Indian vets saved the life of a young male cobra which had swallowed a frog pierced with a safety pin.

The cobra entered into a burrow inside the compound of a house in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, on October 9.

To remove the cobra from the burrow, the residents of the house prepared a nasty piece of bait.

They killed a frog and pierced its leg with a safety pin, which was bent to work as a fish hook. They tied the frog to a string and left it outside the burrow.

The cobra swallowed the toad and was pulled out of the burrow. But it was badly injured and was in tremendous pain as the safety pin had pierced its way through to the alimentary canal.

A local forest official took the snake to the Veterinary Department of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology. An X-ray revealed the presence of a safety pin inside the abdomen and a team led by Dr Indramani Nath removed the pin surgically in an operation lasting 3 hours.

Dr Biswadip Jena, who was was part of the medical team, said: "It was not easy for us to remove the safety pin because of its clasp. There was some delay in bringing the snake to us and the sharp pin had moved inside damaging parts of the intestine."

Subhendu Mallik of Snake Helpline, who assisted in the surgery, said: "This method of removing snakes from burrows is cruel and illegal. People should use black phenyl or aerosols to dispel the snakes out of their hideout.".

The snake is recovering and has been kept under observation for 2 weeks.

Indian veterinary doctors saved the life of a young male cobra, which had swallowed a frog pierced with a safety pin.

The cobra entered into a burrow inside the compound of a house in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, on October 9.

To remove the cobra from the burrow, the residents of the house prepared a nasty bait.

They killed a frog and pierced its leg with a safety pin, which was bent to make it work like a fish hook. They tied the frog to a string and left it outside the burrow.

The cobra swallowed the toad and was pulled out of the burrow. But it was badly injured and was in tremendous pain as the safety pin had pierced its way through to the alimentary canal.

A local forest official took the snake to the Veterinary Department of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology. An X-ray revealed the presence of safety pin inside the abdomen and a team led by Dr. Indramani Nath removed the pin surgically in an operation lasting 3 hours.

Dr. Biswadip Jena, who was was part of the medial team, said: "It was not easy for us to remove the safety pin because of its clasp. There was some delay in bringing the snake to us and the sharp pin had moved inside damaging parts of the intestine."

Subhendu Mallik of Snake Helpline, who assisted in the surgery, said: "This method of removing snakes from burrows is cruel and illegal. People should use black phenyl or aerosols to dispel the snakes out of their hide out.".

The snake is recovering and has been kept under observation for 2 weeks.