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NORTHGLENN, Colo. (KDVR) — A Northglenn husky is expected to make a full recovery after swallowing an abandoned fishing hook at a local park.

Rick Caputa said he was walking his son’s 4-year-old dog, Kida, at Webster Lake, when she wolfed something down near the shoreline.

“I happened to notice she had string hanging out of her mouth, so I pull on the string and it wouldn’t come out,” Caputa said. “And then she started coughing a little bit, and I thought, oh my gosh, she probably swallowed a hook or something.”

Caputa’s wife rushed her to the emergency vet, where an X-ray revealed an inch-long hook lodged in her throat.

Veterinarians were able to surgically remove the hook, and Kida is expected to be just fine. Still, Caputa said it’s a reminder for fisherman and dog owners to be vigilant. 

“It was a very, very scary situation,” he said.

An X-ray image shows a fish hook lodged in a dog’s throat in Northglenn, Colorado.

Thursday, the Problem Solvers found multiple lures abandoned on the lake’s shoreline. One was just a few dozen feet from a plastic disposal tube provided by the city of Northglenn.

“Fisherman need to clean up after themselves and get their line and hooks,” Caputa said. “There’s line holders at the lakes, a lot of them have them, to make sure the line doesn’t get to the wildlife or pets.”

A spokesperson for Northglenn said leaving hooks on the ground is considered littering and could result in a citation. That spokesperson said the city also recently hired a full-time park ranger who will be a regular presence in the park.

They say park maintenance staff are in the park daily picking up litter but add it’s ultimately up to visitors to be good stewards of public parks. 

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