'We are always so careful': Couple's warning to other owners after pet dog rushed to emergency vets

Vets have issued a warning to pet owners as they brace themselves for a surge in cases of pets poisoned by chocolate this Easter.

Chocolate toxicity cases soared by 236pc last Easter, according to Vets Now, the pet equivalent of A&E. Other than Christmas, Easter is said to be second busiest time of the year for dogs being treated for chocolate poisoning.

One dog, a miniature dachshund named Bertie, had to be rushed to the vets after scoffing a huge bowl of chocolates at his home in Sale. Bertie leapt from the sofa into the mountain of Quality Streets, Heroes and Celebrations while his owner Claire Cully was out shopping.

READ MORE: Northern Quarter bar asks people to stop having sex in its photo booth after finding discarded bra

Claire said she believed the chocolates would be safe on her living room table as Bertie’s tiny legs are too small for him to climb onto it. However, some of her furniture had been moved while new flooring was put down, which allowed Bertie to use the sofa as a springboard.

After successfully landing on the forbidden table, sixteen-month-old Bertie wolfed down the chocolates with the wrappers still on.

When Claire and her partner Luke returned home, they found dog-chewed wrappers and dozens of half-eaten chocolates strewn around the living room. Bertie, meanwhile, was whimpering in discomfort and had a noticeably swollen stomach.

Knowing how poisonous chocolate can be for dogs – and amazed by the quantity Bertie had got through – Claire phoned Vets Now. Minutes later, she, Luke and Bertie were on their way to its 24-hour pet emergency hospital in Whitefield.

Vets Now staff rushed Bertie in and gave him medicine to make him sick and stop the chocolates settling in his system. A large amount of