Ailing Dog Found With Stuffed Polar Bear in Stomach

Dr. Rick Snook, a veterinarian with the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society, gives Honey, a Dogue de Bordeaux, a pat after examining her Tuesday, March 15, 2016, at the shelter’s Thaw Animal Hospital. The dog swallowed a 6-inch stuffed toy that was lodged in her intestine and was successfully removed following surgery on Monday, March 14, 2016. The dog would have died without the surgery. Photo by Ben Swan/The Santa Fe Animal Shelter

SANTA FE, N.M.—A veterinarian helped save the life of an ailing New Mexico dog after discovering the source of the pup’s pain—a 6-inch long, 2-inch wide stuffed polar bear.

Santa Fe Animal Humane officials told KRQE-TV in Albuquerque that the bear was discovered in the dog’s stomach during surgery.

A 6-inch, 2-inch wide stuffed polar bear, shown Monday, March 15, 2016, at the Santa Fe animal shelter's Thaw Animal Hospital in Santa Fe, N.M, was lodged in a dog's intestine after she ingested it a week or so ago. Photo by Ben Swan/The Santa Fe Animal Shelter