A SOCK-STEALING Staffy needed an emergency trip to the vets after one got lodged in his stomach.

George, the five-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier pup, has munched his way through 15 pairs of socks belonging to his unsuspecting County Durham owners.

The pilfering pooch needed emergency surgery at Prince Bishop Veterinary Hospital in Leadgate, near Consett, after an X-ray revealed he had eaten a sock, some stones and a dog toy.

George raids the washing machine, drawers and radiators in search of socks belonging to Kathryn and Mark Danby and their two daughters Millie, 12, and Imogen, four.

He has also eaten the hands and feet off Barbie dolls, swallowed stones and chewed furniture at the family home in Delves Lane, near Consett.

Mrs Danby said: “We first noticed George’s sock obsession when he was just 12 weeks old. I went to clean up in the garden and noticed he had passed a sock.

“My husband found a pair of socks in his cage after George had been sick, and then I noticed he was poorly when I took him for a walk.

“It is thanks to the vets at Prince Bishop that he’s OK.”

Vet Gemma Taylor, who performed the operation, has now recommended his owners buy him a muzzle to curb his appetite.

She said: “Hopefully this is something he will grow out of as it is associated with teething.

“But we need to stop it becoming a habit and make sure he doesn’t think it is a game when people take the sock from him.”

Mrs Danby added: “We are trying to minimise what he can steal. All socks have to be tucked away in drawers or on feet.

“I have to lock the washing machine door because he’s even pinching them from there.”