A dog’s secret habit of eating his owner’s PPE during the coronavirus pandemic was revealed after vets discovered that the hungry canine had managed to help himself to 30 gloves.

Rambo the Rottweiler was taken to an animal hospital for a check-up after bringing up a glove – where an endoscopy found he had consumed 30 in total.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

Rambo, seven, happily went into theatre “without a care in the world”, to the surprise of surgeons treating him.

But what was initially anticipated to be a brief operation ended up taking three hours.

Keith Leonard, who led the endoscopy at a Vets4Pets hospital in Leeds, said: “When Rambo was referred to us, we didn’t think we’d be finding much, particularly as he literally bounced into the hospital.

“Each time we pulled a glove out, we went back to check it was the last one and found another one – it was something we’ve never seen or heard of before.

“While Rambo was outwardly in a healthy condition, it wouldn’t have taken much for his situation to have turned critical and his owner’s quick thinking to bring him into the practice and then our hospital effectively saved his life.”

Owner Darren Coyne, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, had been given a number of boxes of gloves for his job in a hotel during the coronavirus pandemic.

Rambo had been delving into his supply, kept in the back of his car, during journeys for exercise, Mr Coyne said.

He explained: “I had a number of boxes of gloves and just assumed I’d used all of one box, which is why Rambo got away with eating and hiding them.

“When he was sick with one glove, I instantly recognised it and searched the car for any evidence of him eating anything else. That was when I found the box hidden underneath his bed and the missing gloves.”

Mr Coyne said he was “gobsmacked” when the vets pulled out all the gloves.

Luckily Rambo was discharged less than 12 hours after going under the knife and has now made a full recovery.

“He’s a lucky dog, the gloves are now stored away out of his reach and I’ve told him ‘hands off’ my equipment,” Mr Coyne added.

Related posts:

Advice issued on how to keep your car safe as catalytic converter thefts rise by 104% in a year Stonehenge summer solstice live feed pulled as crowds gather against safety advice This year will be ‘difficult’ for international travel ‘whatever happens’ with COVID, PM warns Italy PM wants Euro 2020 final moved from Wembley to Rome due to rise in COVID infections Exhaustion for migrants as they complete final part of their perilous journey across Channel ‘Our beautiful son’: Heartbroken parents’ tribute to teenager killed in e-scooter hit-and-run UK reports 78,610 new COVID cases – highest daily figure since start of pandemic School apologises and offers refund after ‘pathetic’ £3.50 Christmas lunch Queen cancels traditional pre-Christmas lunch with family UK breaks COVID case record for second day in a row – as 88,376 reported ‘It keeps getting harder’: Hospitals dealing with sicker patients due to delayed treatments in pandemic Greater Manchester urging govt to pause parts of Clean Air Zone plan amid claims it ‘penalises people for working’