Alicia Atkinson bought a £1.29 packet of corn on the cob for her family barbecue in Harrogate, West Yorkshire - but the budget feast turned into an eye-wateringly expensive trip to the vetSophie Watson11:36, 24 May 2026FAMILY BBQ ENDED UP COSTING £5,000 WHEN MY GREEDY DOG SWIPED CORN COB THAT GOT STUCK IN HIS BELLYA mum claims she had the 'most expensive BBQ ever' after her greedy dog swiped a corn cob that got stuck in his belly - costing £5,000 in vet bills.‌Alicia Atkinson, her husband Alex, 34, and their two children decided to celebrate the first weekend of sunny weather by having a BBQ in their garden on April 3rd.‌With corn on the cob being the only vegetable her four-year-old would eat, the mum-of-two prepared four to have with their burger and sausages.‌READ MORE: 'I've had all my teeth taken out in Turkey - I'll come back when I can afford new ones'READ MORE: Motorists have voted for their favourite service stations - where does your local rank?But after cleaning up and throwing the nibbled corncobs away, Alicia later found her two dogs cocker spaniel Ted, six and springer spaniel Milly, eight, had raided the bin and emptied the contents all over the kitchen.When the 35-year-old noticed three of the four corncobs were missing, she immediately began to panic that her pets had scoffed them.‌After a stressful search on Google that revealed it could be 'life threatening' if they had, Alicia rushed her dogs to the vets where she paid £500 for medication to make them sick.At first, Alicia thought the problem had been solved as the vet found three pieces of corn on the cob in their vomit.‌But four weeks later, when Ted stopped eating and had an upset stomach, she took him back to the vets for a check-up.This is when an ultrasound discovered a blockage in his stomach and after undergoing emergency surgery, the vet found another piece of corn on the cob lurking inside him.‌A horrifying photo shows the mushed-up piece of corn on the cob that was removed from Ted's stomach - that cost an eyewatering £5,000 in vet bills in total.Alicia said the £1.29 packet of corn on the cob turned into the 'most expensive BBQ ever' and is now warning other pet owners about the danger of dogs eating the veg.She says it's now banned in their house and she has bought child locks for the bin so her pets can't get into it.‌Alicia, from Harrogate, West Yorkshire, said: "It was the first time this year we'd had some decent weather so we'd had a BBQ. When we came downstairs, we noticed the dogs had been in the bin."There was one stray piece of the cob with a bit of corn still left in it, but it was a pack of four corn on the cob so I was like 'where are the other three?'.‌"I couldn't find them anywhere. I Googled to see if my dog was okay to eat the cob and it came up with 'don't let them eat this, it's a medical emergency'."It's the perfect size to go into their intestines and can get lodged in there. It was said on Google that it could be life threatening."I never in a million years thought there was corn on the cob still inside [Ted]. I thought he was just ill.‌"They got him into surgery straight away and that's when they found the cob. I was devastated and thinking the worst, I was so worried."Alicia said she had recently purchased the kitchen pedal bin and her two dogs had been using the pedal to open it and swipe food out of it over the last few days.‌In total, the content creator claims she was left forking out £4,500 in surgery costs to save her dog's life, with her insurance covering £2,000 of it.Alicia said: "The vet thinks that the cob must have split and he must have crushed it when he swallowed it."The vet said it was a bit of a miracle that he had had the corn on the cob in his stomach for four weeks.‌"For a lot of other dogs that could have caused a blockage and killed them, in smaller dogs they said this would be fatal."He's back to his old self and we've had to buy child locks for the bins for the dogs. No corn on the cob is ever coming into our house ever again.‌"It was quite an expensive BBQ, it cost £1.29 for the pack of four corn on the cobs and it ended up costing us five grand. It's one of the most expensive BBQs I've ever heard of."As well as corn on the cob, Alicia says the vet told her avocado stones and chicken bones can be just as dangerous to dogs and cause blockages.According to Vets Now, corn on the cob can't be digested by dogs, which means they can get stuck and cause blockages in the intestines.Article continues belowThe constant pressure built up could lead to your pooch's intestines rupturing and can be life-threatening.Now, Alicia is sharing her dog's experience to warn other pet owners about this ahead of BBQ season. She said: "You need to be really considerate about where you're placing your rubbish."Things like chicken bones, avocado stones and corn on the cob are all quite bad as they can cause blockages. Bin it and put it in your outside bin straight away."