Dog's mouth glued shut after 'eating council magazine'

Chalky’s owners claimed he had eaten part of a Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council magazine – but the council said it does not use adhesives in its publications as they are fully recyclable.

The hapless hound ended up needing the vet treatment to carefully prise open its jaws in a procedure which took more than two hours at White Cross Vets in Redcar after his mouth became "really stuck".

Catherine Marshall, a veterinary nurse at the practice, said: “ We’d never seen anything like it.

“The concern was he couldn’t eat or drink and he was getting upset with himself.”

The practice also contacted the Veterinary Poisons Information Service for extra advice.

The council said its magazine did not contain adhesives and did not contain flyers from third parties, adding in a statement that if there were inserts they must have been placed inside by the Royal Mail.

Councillor Christopher Massey, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for resources, said: “We will be investigating the resident’s complaint in order to get to the bottom of what has happened.

"However, after speaking with our printers, it is important to note that the council’s ‘this is Redcar and Cleveland Magazine’ is 100 per cent recyclable and, because of this, doesn’t have any coatings or adhesives on any of the pages.”

Chalky’s owner Allison Evendon, who lives in Eston, Middlesbrough, claims her dog picked the magazine up after she saw it come through the door.

She said when she tried to open his mouth to take out the bits of wet paper, she couldn’t as it was glued shut.

And she warned other pet owners, as well as parents of small children, to be careful with flyers or magazines coming through the door.

She said: “He just got hold of it and ripped it. It cost £350 in vet bills as they have had to do blood tests etc to check for any poisons.”

Pet owners are often advised to put a cage across the letterbox to catch the mail and prevent inquisitive dogs getting hold of the post.