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Puppy recovering after swallowing long piece of chain-link fence

ATLANTA — A puppy in foster care is recovering after she got part of a chain-link fence stuck inside her.

Pup Pup, who’s just 9 weeks old, was at a foster home in Blairsville last Friday night, when her caregivers heard a commotion in the backyard.

They found Pup Pup stuck to the fence and realized she somehow had swallowed a long piece of metal.

A rescuer used bolt cutters to remove her, then her foster caregivers drove around north Georgia trying to find emergency veterinary care.

They ended up hours away at BluePearl Veterinary Hospital in Sandy Springs.

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"When I got in there, about one-third of the way down, it had actually punctured through the esophagus and was in the chest cavity, so it was in between the lungs and esophagus," said veterinarian Nicolas Berryessa.

It was tricky, but Berryessa was able to remove the metal without surgery.

"By manipulating it, I was able to use an endoscope which is a snake-like camera with a port at the end where we put a snare to grab it kind of like a lasso and we were able to pull it up towards the neck," said Berryessa.

Pup Pup spent a few days in the hospital, but is now back in foster care and back to normal.

Berryessa told Channel 2 Action News he does not expect any long-term damage.

Pup Pup’s been in the care of Castoff Pet Rescue in Blairsville.

She’s scheduled to be transferred to another rescue group in Maine next month where she’ll be available for adoption.