Dolly the dog is recovering from surgery after accidently swallowing a disposable vape, its feared it could've ended a lot worse if her owner hadn't noticed something wasn't right sooner.
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00:00The sweet or food-related flavours of vapes can be particularly attractive to pets with a keen sense of smell.
00:06And if they aren't disposed of properly, they can end up hurting animals like Dolly, the Bichon Frise,
00:11who's lucky to be alive after swallowing an entire vape pod.
00:14She'd recently was just getting over dental surgery and she was due to come for a check-up at the vets
00:24and I explained to the vets that she was not improving, she was feeling under the weather.
00:30So yeah, it was a very worrying time for her and within a space of a few weeks having to go through surgery twice
00:43was really upsetting for all of us.
00:47Beverly noticed something was wrong when Dolly became clingy and whiny
00:51and once they'd done their x-rays and discovered the object, she was booked in for a surgery,
00:55which, because of her age, had fatal risks.
00:58But was this a one-off instance or is it a problem with the disposal of e-cigarettes?
01:02Even though they're called Lost Marys, they're pretty easy to find.
01:06I've only just left the vets, I've already managed to find that, some liquid and even other brands of vape.
01:12It just goes to show how big the problem is.
01:14Most people seem to think that, well, you know, if I'm vaping, it's only really hurting myself.
01:18But you could be potentially causing severe damage or injury or even death to someone else's pet.
01:24Now, even though dogs are known for eating things they aren't supposed to,
01:27that behaviour tends to be more common in younger dogs.
01:30So could this mean there's a wider issue with animals ingesting parts of vapes?
01:34The fact that they're flavoured, they're sort of sweet smelling, is obviously really attractive to dogs.
01:39So there's definitely a greater risk of them ingesting them, finding them when they're out and about.
01:44So I think from the pet owner's point of view, just being really vigilant about, you know,
01:48what they're snuffling around in when they're out on walks.
01:51And generally, you know, we just urge people to be really cautious about disposing of them properly
01:56because it's a risk, obviously for dogs, but potentially for wildlife and maybe for children as well.
02:01This comes at a time when the future of e-cigarettes is up in the air,
02:04with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill being introduced by the government in November
02:08that allows ministers to regulate any flavours that could be considered childlike,
02:12which could prevent dogs and other pets from wanting to swallow them.
02:15But according to experts like Dr Bulse, we won't know until more cases like Dolly's start happening,
02:20which could place a strain on vets across the county and hurt not just our pets, but wildlife too.
02:25Finn McDermid for KMTV in Maidstone.