A BOISTEROUS puppy bit off more than he could chew when he swallowed a 26-inch long metal chain dog least.

Buster, a nine-month-old puppy from Middlesbrough, had to have an emergency operation to remove the lead after an x-ray showed it in the puppy’s stomach.

The mischievous dog grabbed the lead but before anyone could stop him, he had swallowed the entire chain.

Owner Jackie Stephenson said: “At first I didn’t believe it, I ran around turning the house upside down looking for the chain. I didn’t think there was any way that he could do that. Plus he’s always been such a good puppy and never tried to eat anything before.”

After searching high and low, the 38-year-old realised that her beloved pooch, must have swallowed the chain as it was nowhere to be found.

Despite not showing any signs of illness, she took Buster to her the Middlesbrough PDSA PetAid hospital, to be checked over.

Veterinary surgeon, Mary Tonge, said: “We examined Buster’s stomach and couldn’t feel anything unusual; it wasn’t until we x-rayed him that we saw the true picture. He must have swallowed the chain in one go, it was just lying in his stomach and luckily it hadn’t passed into his intestines – that would have been extremely painful and potentially deadly.”

Middlesbrough PDSA PetAid hospital provides free veterinary treatment to the sick and injured pets of local people in need. For more information on PDSA or to enquire about eligibility visit www.pdsa.org.uk or call 0800-7312502.