Dog owner's plea after pet dies from swallowing discarded bottle top

A heartbroken Aberdeen dog owner is encouraging others to bin their rubbish after her pet died from swallowing a discarded bottle top.

Alison Cameron’s nine-year-old Vizsla, Bracken, became ill several weeks ago also swelling a piece of plastic and, despite surgery to remove the item, he sadly passed away.

She told STV News: “Everybody who knew me, knew me and Bracken. We were always together. When I had a broken leg and several operations, Bracken helped me to walk again and then eventually to run again.

“He was such a big personality and very chatty. He’s very special and very missed.”

Bracken had X-rays and underwent a complicated three-hour operation to repair tears in his intestine after swallowing the plastic, but he didn’t survive.

The bottle top which vets found in Bracken was a new design with a sharp prong, and it was this which caused the damage.

Alison is now raising awareness in his memory to warn others of the dangers to pets.

Since posting on social media, she says she’s received hundreds of messages of support.

“A tiny little one-centimetre bit of plastic means my dog isn’t here. If you see a bottle top, put it in the bin.

“I coined this phrase ‘Bin it for Bracken’ and it went a bit daft on social media.

“It takes one second to just pick it up and put it in the bin. Just bin it for Bracken,” she said.

Her efforts are being supported by the Stonehaven-based charity Paws on Plastic, which encourages people globally to pick up litter while walking their dogs.

The charity’s founder, Marion Montgomery, said: “It’s absolutely horrendous. Our members feel so strongly for Alison and respect her for sharing this heartbreaking story.

“Sadly, it is very common – not to that degree maybe, not so many animals die – but there are certainly huge numbers which are injured.

“‘Bin it for Bracken’ and have that in your mind every day when you’re walking your dog. We can all make a difference, we all have that power,” she explained.

“It’s not going to bring our boy back, but if we can prevent anyone going through this, we will have done him justice,” added Alison.