Puppy swallows a pair of AirPods which still work after being removed

AirPup! Vets surgically remove Apple headphones from a Golden Retriever’s digestive system after he mistook the case for a treat – and his amazed owner says they STILL work and ‘don’t have a scratch’

  • Rachel Hick, 22, from Willerby, Hull was taking picture of golden retriever Jimmy
  • Her Apple AirPods fell out of her pocket and her pet dog swiftly ate them whole 
  • After emergency surgery she was stunned to discover headphones still worked 
  • Vet who treated Jimmy said there wasn’t a ‘scratch or a tooth mark’ on the device

A puppy needed emergency surgery after swallowing a pair of Apple AirPods that were charging in their case.

Owner Rachel Hick, 22, from Willerby, Hull, said her ‘heart sank’ when she realised her golden retriever Jimmy had eaten a pair of wireless headphones she had accidentally dropped on the floor. 

She rushed the pup her local vets where concerned staff performed intricate surgery to remove the device. 

Astonishingly, the AirPods came out intact without so much as a scratch on the device and hours later Rachel discovered both the charger and the headphones still worked perfectly. 

A puppy needed emergency surgery after swallowing a pair of Apple AirPods that were charging in their case. Golden retriever Jimmy is pictured recuperating at home, with a cone  to stop him licking his stitches

Radiograph images following an X-ray of Jimmy clearly showed the AirPods case still intact in his digestive system

Radiograph images following an X-ray of Jimmy clearly showed the AirPods case still intact in his digestive system

‘It was Easter Sunday and Jimmy has his own Instagram account, so I was taking photos of him getting his first dog Easter egg to use on Instagram’, said Rachel. 

‘He was jumping up and running around going crazy, he was so hyped up and excited.

‘As he jumped, he knocked my AirPods out of my pocket and they fell on the floor, and before I even realised they’d dropped on the floor, he eaten them whole.

‘He looked up at me straight after and gave me a look as if to say ‘that wasn’t the treat, was it?’ My heart sank.’  

Owner Rachel Hick, 22, from Willerby, Hull, said her 'heart sank' when she realised her golden retriever Jimmy had eaten a pair of wireless headphones

Owner Rachel Hick, 22, from Willerby, Hull, said her ‘heart sank’ when she realised her golden retriever Jimmy had eaten a pair of wireless headphones

Astonishingly, the AirPods came out intact without so much as a scratch on the device and hours later Rachel discovered both the charger and the headphones still worked perfectly

Astonishingly, the AirPods came out intact without so much as a scratch on the device and hours later Rachel discovered both the charger and the headphones still worked perfectly 

Rachel raced the puppy to Vets Now, an out-of-hours pet emergency service in the city, where he was scanned.

Susana Jauregui, senior vet at the Hull-based practice, was concerned about causing an obstruction in Jimmy’s body and so decided to operate. 

She explained: ‘Our vet on duty that evening, Steven, X-rayed Jimmy and the radiograph images clearly showed the AirPods case still intact in his digestive system.

‘There was a risk of it causing an obstruction and, with it being a charging case, Steven was also concerned about battery acid leaking so, after discussing the situation with Jimmy’s owners, he agreed to operate. 

To the vet’s surprise, there was no damage at all to the device and the charging light was still on. 

The operation took place on a Sunday evening and Jimmy spent the night recuperating in the clinic before heading home with owner Rachel

The operation took place on a Sunday evening and Jimmy spent the night recuperating in the clinic before heading home with owner Rachel 

The operation took place on a Sunday evening and Jimmy spent the night recuperating in the clinic. 

Susana added: ‘Jimmy’s a beautiful dog and he’s lucky his owners acted so promptly. 

‘Battery acid is highly dangerous to dogs as are large foreign objects, especially if they’re allowed to pass into the intestine.’ 

He is now home, with a cone around his head to stop him licking his stitches.

Rachel said: ‘He’s a bit sorry for himself, we’re not allowed to exercise him so he has all this energy and nowhere for it to go.

‘I have been so worried about him, it’s certainly a cautionary tale for other dog owners. I can’t believe the AirPods still work, they’ve had a good clean!’