Teddy the Yorkshire terrier 'lucky to be alive' after swallowing sharp fish hook

Cape Town - Teddy, an adorable little Yorkshire terrier from Marina da Gama, is “lucky to be alive” after swallowing a razor-sharp fish hook last week on Thursday.

Teddy swallowed the fish hook which was attached to a metal swivel and approximately300mm' of fishing line.

His owner could not afford to have surgery done at a local vet, and was redirected to the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa, who came to the rescue.

“His owner rushed him to their local vet who recommended surgery as the only way to safely remove the hook, line and swivel which at that point appeared to be firmly lodged in Teddy's oesophagus.

“Unfortunately Teddy's owner couldn't afford the life-saving operation as her business had suffered major losses over the lockdown,” the organisation said.

“Given her financial predicament and Teddy's life-threatening condition, her vet recommended that she approach us to perform the tricky operation.”

During the initial consultation, Teddy's owner explained that both her teenage children are avid fishers and that Teddy had accidentally swallowed some fishing tackle they had left lying around.

Her daughter first noticed Teddy sitting awkwardly on her fishing tackle bag with a length of "thread" dangling from his mouth and immediately suspected that he had "swallowed a hook".

Given their strong suspicion that he had swallowed a lot more than the length of fishing line, they fortunately decided not to tug at it.

“A fresh set of X-rays taken on Friday showed that the fishing tackle had travelled all the way down into Teddy's stomach, and it was decided that the operation could not be delayed for fear of the hook becoming lodged in his abdomen or the nylon becoming tangled in his gut.

“Teddy was on the operating table for quite some time as the team carefully extracted first the hook, then the line and finally the swivel, before suturing closed his wound and pronouncing the operation a success,” the organisation said.

The organisation had the pleasure on Monday of handing over a fit and healthy Teddy to his grateful owner, who was reminded of the dangers of leaving fishing tackle lying around.

Cape Argus