Dog Swallows 111 Pennies, Vets Warn Coins Can Be Fatal To Pets
When a dog swallows 111 pennies, the cause of the pet’s discomfort may not be immediately discernible unless you’re headed to the Coinstar machine — but a Manhattan vet is using one pup’s close call to warn pet owners about the risk of toxic coins.
Jack is a Jack Russell terrier, and, last week, his owners discovered that the dog had swallowed a stunning 111 pennies, or $1.11. And as to how exactly such a circumstance comes to pass, the New York Daily News says the 13-year-old terrier managed to snaffle up the “coin collection while licking up crumbs from a leftover bagel.” Of course.
Tim Kelleher is the owner of the dog that swallowed 111 pennies, and he said it became clear despite not having witnessed the fit of pica that Jack was not well on Friday. Kelleher’s pet was vomiting and clearly sick, and the Wall Street worker rushed his pooch to BluePearl Veterinary Partners in Manhattan for treatment.
Kelleher explains how Jack managed to swallow 111 pennies, saying that the dog is “like a voracious Tasmanian devil — if there’s food, he’s got to get it.” Kelleher says the Jack Russell terrier jumped up on a desk “to get at the bag with the bagel and knocked the change all over the floor,” adding that “as he was licking up the crumbs, he swallowed the pennies.”
Quick thinking vets at BluePearl Veterinary Partners discovered the mass on an x-ray, performing an emergency endoscopy on Jack to remove the 111 pennies over the course of two hours.
Five at a time, the animal doctors were able to remove the 111 pennies as they operated on Jack, but Dr. Amy Zalcman says that the situation could quickly turn serious for dogs — dogs that are clearly not averse to chomping coins. Zalcman says that had the 111 pennies not been removed, the “consequences would have been fatal” for Jack, warning pet owners that coins made before 1982 in particular pose additional risks (aside from blockages that can kill) due to their composition.
As for the dog that swallowed 111 pennies? Kelleher says Jack is doing well and “driving [him] crazy” again.
