A dog owner has issued a stark warning after her pet was left with a serious neck injury from a stick thrown by a passer-by.
Jen Kahl, 34, from Currie near Edinburgh, was out for a walk with her dog Charlie when someone threw a stick for him on June 26.
The stick landed upright on the grass and when the Border Collie ran over to get it, he put his head down and it went straight down his throat.
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Jen rushed Charlie to the vets, but despite there being no initial signs of obvious injury, his throat became severely infected three weeks later and he had to undergo surgery to drain a huge abscess.
Jen, who works as a biology teacher, is now urging others to think twice before throwing sticks for dogs as she hopes to highlight the dangers.
Speaking to the Record, Jen said: "It's been horrendous. We don't throw anything for Charlie because it can make him obsessive, but sometimes he picks up sticks and places them at the feet of others passing by.
"I always ask people not to throw them for him, but by the time I tried to shout it was too late. The woman thought she was doing a nice thing, but the stick landed upright. When he ran over to get it, it went right down his throat.
"Charlie went up on his back legs and the stick was sticking straight out his mouth. I knew straight away that this could be fatal so I was freaking out."
Charlie eventually managed to knock the stick out of his mouth but Jen said her pet was "traumatised and cowering" before she raced him to the vets. He was given anti-inflammatory medication, but three weeks later Jen noticed a lump on his neck.
The mum-of-one said: "The lump started off the size of a golf ball then quickly grew to the size of a tennis ball. The vet said it could have been caused by a scratch that had become infected, or he could still have some of the stick stuck in his throat.
"They were very concerned by the size of the abscess and worried it could put pressure on his trachea, which would affect his breathing, so they had to cut it open and drain it. They had to send us home with a hole in his neck because they wanted it to drain."
Jen has already had to fork out £800 in vet bills and is worried the cost could rise if Charlie suffers any more complications. She added: "This one person who has innocently thrown a stick has caused all this unnecessary stress.
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"We still have to monitor Charlie's neck to see if the swelling gets bigger and we've been told he'll always have a lump on his neck following this. I'm not angry with the woman that threw the stick, but so many people don't know the dangers.
"It's one of the most common injuries suffered by dogs. If the stick punctures an organ or artery it will likely be fatal. It could have been so much worse."
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