In a feat that put human sword swallowers to shame, a British dog managed to gulp down a stick only 5cm shorter than its own body, and escape unscathed, a report said on Thursday.
Millie, a two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, swallowed the stick by accident while on a walk with her owner, John Hurst, in fields behind his home in Portsmouth, southern England, the Daily Mail newspaper said.
Hurst threw the 40cm stick for Millie to retrieve, but it stuck in the ground like a javelin and the sprinting dog managed effectively to impale herself on it, swallowing it whole.
Fearing the worst, Hurst rushed his pet to a vet, where micro-cameras found the stick had somehow worked its ways down Millie’s throat and deep into her stomach without hitting any vital organs on the way.
After a two-hour operation, the only injury to Millie was a small scratch inside her stomach, the report said.
Dogs receiving treatment for swallowed sticks is common, vet Matthew Tyler told the newspaper.
“But for a dog to get a stick stuck this far down is unheard of,” he added. — AFP