Pictured: Rascal, the spaniel who got too close to a paper shredder

Call it an ear miss: Rascal the spaniel, with owner Jackie Wells. He lost part of one ear after it got tangled in a paper shredder

Curiosity may have killed the cat - but Rascal's story shows it doesn't do the dog much good either.



The springer spaniel needed emergency surgery after peering into a paper shredder and setting it off.



The machine's metal jaws bit into the 11-month-old puppy's ear and dragged it in, shredding it like a sheet of paper.



Rascal's horrified owner Jackie Wells managed to switch off the power supply, but not before more than an inch of the dog's right ear had been chewed up.



Mrs Wells, 49, an exam invigilator, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, was shredding bills at home when the accident happened.



She said: ' To my horror the machine latched on to his ear and began to grind.



'The shredder has a sensor that switches it on whenever something, usually paper, hovers above it. There must have been a fault with the safety device. As soon as I saw Rascal was stuck I immediately disconnected the machine and called the vet.



'I couldn't believe it, the poor little devil.'



With the help of her son Robert, 25, a commercial pilot, Mrs Wells rushed the dog to the vet with the shredder still attached.



Lucky escape: Rascal recovering at home

Rascal was given local anaesthetic and painkillers before the vet, Leonard Cooper, could untangle the shredder from his ear.



Mr Cooper, from the Cayton Veterinary Surgery in nearby Smallford, removed the teeth from the electric motor, which enabled him to manually reverse the blades.



However, there was no choice but to amputate part of Rascal's ear. Mr Cooper said: 'It was hard to get the ear out, it was held tightly in place.

Mangled: The floppy ear after it was caught in the shredder

'It was a bit gory. The flesh to the ear had, as you would imagine, been cut into tiny strips, just as if it was paper. Fortunately, no harm has been caused to Rascal's hearing and once the hair on his ear has re-grown his ears may be a little lopsided but the injury shouldn't be visible.'



Mrs Wells said yesterday that Rascal was bandaged but making a good recovery at home.

Before: The spaniel prior to the accident

She said: 'He really does live up to his name. He's a nutter, but an adorable dog with a lovely nature.



'He was in shock, but seems unfazed now.'

Suffering: Rascal is given pain relief while he waits to be freed

Recovering: The distraught dog was rushed to the vet - with the shredder still attached

Shredder: Its vicious metal jaws caught the tip of Rascal's hairy ear, sucking it between its teeth



