We live in unique times, to say the least. It wasn’t all that long ago that it seemed as if we were free to roam about as much as we like but these days, we are constantly in lockdown and finding ourselves quarantined on occasion as well. The coronavirus pandemic has certainly changed life for many of us, and one of the ways that it has changed life it the PPE we wear. When we are out and about, it is a good idea to have a mask on but even more so, it is the law in many areas. Those masks are helping people to stay safe and healthy but it seems as if they are also putting some of the little critters in danger.
Disposable masks are an important part of life these days but, at the same time, people tend to be lazy so they will simply throw their old mask on the ground and not even give it a second thought. This led to near tragedy one day when a dog swallowed one of those disposable masks when he was out for a walk. The dog’s name is Kobe and he was treated at the Small Animal Hospital at the University of Glasgow after swallowing the mask. Fortunately, he was able to be saved but it could’ve been a lot worse.
The incident was posted on Facebook. Kobe’s owner brought him into the hospital after the dog saw the facemask and “wolfed it down”
It became dangerous because the mask had a wire nose clip.
“Kobe was out for an afternoon walk when he spotted a discarded face mask and wolfed it down. Luckily, his owner recognised the risk of this causing damage to his gastro-intestinal tract, and brought him straight to our Out of Hours Emergency Service,” the Facebook post begins.
“An x-ray was taken to check if the mask contained a nose wire, as this increases the risk of complications – it did, but since this appeared small and flexible our team opted to make Kobe vomit in the hope of retrieving the mask.”
“Kobe was given an injection to make him sick, and fortunately the face mask was brought back up again. You can see from Kobe’s sad expression that this was not a fun experience, but happily, there was no serious damage caused in his case.
Fortunately, Kobe was able to make a full recovery. The veterinarians involved, however, wanted people to be aware of the danger of throwing those disposable masks on the ground.
“A good reminder that littering is not only bad for our environment, but poses a danger to our pets too. Thank you to Kobe’s owner for allowing us to share his case and to our Out of Hours Emergency Service for writing his story and for all the essential work they do.”