A NORTH EAST family was left devastated after being hit with a £1,300 vet bill after a bone from Home Bargains costing 99p nearly killed a beloved family pet.
Middlesbrough mum Pippa Wilson described her horror after buying three treat bones for their beloved corgi, Albas.
The mum-of-three said her furry friend happily gnawed his way through the ham-flavoured bone but started vomiting and suffered bloody diarrhoea the following day.
A worried Pippa, and her partner Sam Hossein, rushed their pet to Vets4Pets in Middlesbrough, where he had an X-ray.
The scan confirmed pieces of the bone had become stuck inside Albas, tearing his intestines, and causing internal bleeding.
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The couple had to fork out £1,300 to save their dog’s life.
A fiddly operation was necessary that involved putting Albas to sleep while the bone shards were extracted from his rear end.
Now, the couple are urging owners to do their research before buying dog treats and for the retailer to pull the bones from the shelves.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, Ms Wilson said: “On the packaging, there was a warning, but because it was so unbelievably small I didn’t see it until afterwards, you’d need a magnifying glass to read it.
"If the manufacturer knew this could be dangerous why is it still being sold?
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“I know there’ll be other shops selling similar bones so I want to raise awareness. If this could save one dog’s life then I’ll be happy.
“It’s been awful, really stressful and it was horrible seeing him (Albas) suffer. Obviously, at first we felt guilt because we gave him the bone but if the warning was clearer then I would never have given him that.”
Ms Wilson said that the huge vet bill was "hard to swallow," as they said the whole situation could have been avoided.
Pippa has since taken to Facebook to warn others of the dangers of these ‘tasty treats,' receiving messages from dozens of people saying they had experienced similar situations with similar bones.
In a Facebook, she wrote: “DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOG BONES especially these bones from Home Bargains, our Albas has had the bone and chewed it up swallowed sharp bones they have pierced his internal organs he’s bleeding from inside. Vet bills looking at thousands.. and still don’t know if he’s gonna pull through we are heartbroken.”
Now recovering at home, in the few days after his operation, Albas was at risk of developing a fatal infection called Peritonitis.
Fortunately, he was very lucky and although he is not quite back to full health, Pippa and Sam are hopeful he soon will be.
In response, a spokesperson for Home Bargains said: “We were very sorry to hear of this unfortunate event, and we are liaising closely with the manufacturer and the complainant.”
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