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Chihuahua Possibly Fed Sewing Needles Needs New Home

ORANGE COUNTY (CBSLA.com) — A chihuahua is recovering from intensive surgery after having nine sewing needles extracted from his digestive tract and body.

Members of Orange County Animal Care picked up the 5-pound stray, who they named "Yoda," and noticed he walked with a limp.

"His X-ray was astonishing...[The needles] had just left the stomach and were going through the liver, through the diaphragm and were headed into his chest," said Dr. Diane Craig, who operated on the dog. "It's hard to imagine a dog would voluntarily eat nine sewing needles."

Yoda was rushed into surgery, where Craig was assisted by another veterinary surgeon and a support staff.

While the team worked to remove the needles Craig used a magnet to extract one piercing the dog's heart. At that instant, the organ stopped beating and Craig massaged Yoda's heart for 15 minutes, without success, before deciding to use a defibrillator.

Yoda miraculously came back to life.

The Chihuahua is expected to make a full recovery. He needs a good home and help paying for his $9,000 surgery.

Those looking to lend poor Yoda a helping paw can do so at OC Animal Care.

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