Florence and the machine: angle grinder used to remove flask from Labrador’s mouth

A vet used an angle grinder as part of his efforts to remove a metal flask stuck in the mouth of a hungry Labrador retriever.

Florence, known as Flo, already had a history of eating things she shouldn’t, but her owners thought they had taken necessary steps to keep her from seeking out the flask, which contained home-made butternut squash soup. They had not put the lid on, specifically so Flo did not chew through it to get to the soup.

They had also not picked plastic containers for the soup, because she had previously chewed through these.

Stuck flask

Vet David Tomkins, of the independently run The Guildford Vet, said he had just got home on a Friday evening when he received the telephone call about the seven-and-a-half-year-old dog.

He said: “Flo has a history of eating things she shouldn’t. She has twice managed to clear an American fridge freezer and is prone to chewing through [plastic containers] with food in it.

“The owners went out for a couple of hours and came back to Florence with the flask stuck. After trying to wriggle the flask off her jaw I realised it was a futile task and was causing trauma to the gingiva.”

Angle grinder

Dr Tomkins said a tradesperson friend of one of the owners suggested, and supplied, an angle grinder.

He added: “After trying various tools available in the practice toolbox, as well as bone cutters. I had little to no experience of using an angle grinder and had no room for error given the proximity, a couple of centimetres, to Flo’s mandible.

“With one hand I was stabilising the bottle and with the other hand using the grinder to slowly cut through the bottle. The heat being generated meant I had to take breaks quite regularly. Eventually, I managed to cut enough that I could use pliers to peel back the edges and remove the flask.”