Roasted Round Bone Sawed Off Spaniel’s Snout

Most chew toys don’t bite back, let alone result in treatment requiring anesthesia and a hacksaw.

“We had a round bone left over from a roast and I thought I’d let my dog Toby play with it,” said Dennis Bullaro of Omaha, Neb. “He chewed on it and kept it around the house for about two months with no problems, but one day he managed to get it stuck around his front teeth and lower jaw. He couldn’t get it off and he started going crazy, squealing and howling. I thought I could get it off, but he got really scared when I tried to grab it. When I did get a hold of it, it wouldn’t budge. The veterinarian eventually had to anesthetize him and while he was out, used a regular hacksaw and sawed the bone right off.”

Bullaro’s claim for his spaniel mix Toby was one of more than 75,000 claims received in the month of May by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of pet health insurance. Toby’s uncommon accident was considered along with other out of the ordinary claims submitted in May and selected by VPI as the most unusual of the bunch.