A DOG owner has issued a warning after her beloved pet died two days after swallowing a child’s toy.

Kelly Davies, of Patterson Street, Deane, discovered something was wrong with her Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Milly, when she started being sick after swallowing one of the toys – on Wednesday.

The toy – a latest craze described as ‘little beads that expands in water’ – had been bought from a discount store in Blackpool for Ms Davies’ six-year-old daughter Amelia by a friend two weeks earlier.

And to make the toy grow, the family had initially kept it in a cup of water, but moved it into a bowl after it trebled in size.

Ms Davies said: “They are these little beads that expand if you put them in water. My daughter is fascinated by them and she kept this one in a cup of water so that it grew.

“It started off about half a centimetre, but it grew to about three times the size, so we had to put it in a bowl.

“It was in the bowl on the floor and I had gone to the shop. When I came back, I did not know where it was and Milly was being sick.”

Ms Davies attended a hospital appointment on Thursday morning, but upon returning and discovering the dog was still ill, she rushed to the vets, where Milly underwent two emergency operations.

However, despite the best efforts of vets, they were left with no option other than to have her put down.

And a distraught Ms Davies is now calling for the toys to be taken off the shelves.

“It is all surreal,” she said.

“They expand in water and it has carried on growing inside Milly.

“She was a healthy eight-year-old Staff.

“We have never had any problems with her before,

“We looked on the internet and it said the toys were not dangerous and non-toxic.

“There are no warning signs at all about getting emergency treatment if you swallow one of these.

“If it can do this to Milly, then it can do it to a child.”