A mum is warning pet owners to be vigilant while enjoying ice creams this summer after her greedy dog stole and swallowed a Magnum whole, leaving her with a £2,000 vet bill.

Shelley Coupland's daughter Sophie Baile was enjoying a milk chocolate Magnum at home last month when the two-year-old lowered her arm towards the floor.

Family dog Ruby seized her opportunity and gobbled down the entire treat, including the stick, 'within a second'.

Shelley feared the small Patterdale Terrier and Jack Russell cross wouldn't pass the four-inch wooden stick naturally so frantically called her vets who referred her to an emergency practice. 

(Image: Kennedy News and Media)

The 37-year-old drove a sheepish-looking Ruby to a practice 40 minutes away where she underwent an operation to have the stick removed and spent two days there recovering.

Thankfully Sophie had eaten the chocolate off the Magnum, which is toxic to dogs, and Ruby avoided any internal damage as the stick didn't break inside her stomach.

But NHS healthcare support worker Shelley admits she 'wasn't smart enough' to get pet insurance and has set up a GoFundMe to foot the whopping £2,100 vet bill.

Shelley, from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, said: "It's the most expensive ice cream I've ever bought and will ever buy.

"We didn't have a second to get up and get the stick off of her so she just swallowed the whole thing.

"She must have just seen an opportunity and gone for it because she's usually quite placid and well-behaved.

"I was worried because I knew that whatever was going to happen wasn't going to be great for her. I knew the stick wouldn't go through naturally and I was worried that the stick would do internal damage.

"You can leave plates of food about and she doesn't touch it but obviously that day she just couldn't resist a Magnum.

"We were really nervous when the decision was made to put her through surgery. The hilarity and the cheekiness of her stealing the ice cream quickly turned into dread.

"She just took the whole thing and swallowed it like a pelican eating a fish, it just went down whole.

"There was a chance she wouldn't come back but she pulled through and she's back to her normal self - jumping up and down on the sofa.

"You can see in her movements that she's still feeling sore and she's not comfortable but she's on the mend.

"I've not bought any more Magnums since, we'll have scoop ice-cream from now on."

The mum-of-two has now started a GoFundMe page to help cover the vet costs and has issued a warning to pet owners.

Shelley said: "Make sure you've got pet insurance because that would have saved us a massive headache.

"Unfortunately we just weren't smart enough to do that and we're really grateful for those who have donated through GoFundMe.

"At the moment, trying to find £2,000 out of the blue is really difficult and I will still be booking extra shifts at work to cover the bit we still need to pay."