Oregon Canine Eats Owner's Toes While He Naps

Oregonian has toes eaten by pet dog............yech

Mar 04 2011


ROSEBURG, Ore. — A man awakened from a nap to discover that his dog had eaten three of his toes. When the animal refused to cough up the purloined digits, James Little (now Littler) called 911 to report his missing appendages. He later told the Associated Press that he is "doing fine," which prompted a psychiatric evaluation of the man.

Little, 61, called 911 on Tuesday to say his dog had eaten the body parts while he was sleeping. The photo above depicts Little's toes prior to being eaten.

Little suffers from diabetes, of which one symptom is numbness in the hands or feet.

The Japanese breed dog, a Shiba Inu, probably was acting instinctively to remove diseased flesh according to Douglas County Animal Control Deputy Lee Bartholomew.

Dogs have been known to eat dead or diseased human flesh. A family's dog in Illinois ate the toes of a 10-year-old girl's left foot while she slept last December. She had a sore on her foot.

In August, a dog in Michigan bit off most of its owner's infected big toe after the man passed out from alcohol. The man had diabetes, and the animal was thought to be attracted to a festering wound, or, could have been an alcoholic.

Little has placed the dog for adoption, pending an examination and a 10-day quarantine to determine it does not have rabies. "We are going to find a new home for it," Bartholomew said.

The dog was taken to Roseburg's Saving Grace Pet Adoption Center, where executive director Wendy Kang said the animal is healthy but appears anxious. One would think.

Little was in fair condition at a hospital and expected to be released later Friday.