Boston Doberman recovering after eating three wristwatches

BOSTON, April 27 (UPI) -- Veterinarians in Boston said a dog that ate three wristwatches underwent surgery quickly enough to avoid serious injury to her digestive system.

Jeff Courcelle said he rushed Mocha, a 5-year-old Isabella Doberman, to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' Animal Medical Center in Boston after he and his wife arrived home to find pieces of watches scattered on their floor.

"She had somehow managed to open a drawer, go inside and pull out three watches and some assorted pieces of leather jewelry and she ate them," Courcelle told WHDH-TV.

"They took an X-Ray and she looked mechanical inside. There were gears and springs and all kinds of little pieces of metal," Courcelle said. "There were some very long pieces of untouched leather that she just sort of inhaled and went about her business."

Veterinarians told Courcelle that Mocha was lucky to receive treatment quickly after her inedible snack.

"Because we got her there so fast, very few pieces of the debris had actually started traveling into her digestive system so that's why they were able to get almost everything out in that one procedure," Courcelle said.

Doctors said the endoscopic procedure lasted for about three hours and the only pieces left behind should be able to pass through the canine's system naturally. MSPCA spokesman Rob Halpin told CNN "about a pound of leather straps and metal pieces and detritus" was removed during the surgery.

"We're very lucky because this could have gone badly, obviously, and we're very very thankful to the doctors at Angell Memorial for taking such good care of her," Courcelle said.

Courcelle's wife, Michele Parkinson, said Mocha has had similar troubles in the past -- last summer the Doberman underwent emergency stomach surgery after a piece of plastic from an orange juice container perforated her intestine.

Courcelle said there is one upside to the situation.

"Those were all of my functioning watches. But I think she might have overheard me talking to wife that I wanted to pick up an Apple watch and I couldn't justify it because I had three working watches, so that situation has been taken care of," he said.