Paper shredder accident leads to amputation
13/12/2006 15:16

A hungry family pet has escaped with its life after a run-in with a paper shredder, reports the Daily Record.

Tara, a Labrador cross, found her tongue caught in the machine after eating crumbs dropped on top of the device and inadvertently switching it on.

Unable to free herself, it was left to owner Linda Brown to rescue the dog from the paper shredder and comfort her.

However the machine had shredded the first part of the dog's tongue and the family was told by vets that they would have to amputate.

Ms Brown told the Daily Record: "It was horrific. It will haunt me for ever more. I had to grab her and pull the shredder off her tongue.

"The blood was unbearable. She has always been a greedy dog but this time it could have cost her life."

Tara has so far had to undergo three operations in order to deal with the injury and Jim Penman, the vet who treated the dog, has claimed that the incident could have turned out a lot worse.

Mr Penman told the Scottish paper: "We had to amputate about a third of the tongue. It looked like something that had come through a pasta machine.

"The major blood vessels run in the same direction as the cuts and escaped injury."

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