Cigarette chewing dog killed on way to tobacconists

A 10-a-day cigarette chewing 24-year-old Dachshund has been knocked down and killed – on his way to the tobacconist's shop.

General Edi has been munching his way through half a packet of cigarettes every day since he was a puppy, said owner Wolfgang Treirler. But Edi has died after he was hit by a car during a walk to his favourite cigarette shop.

"Poor Edi dashed out in the road in excitement right in front of a car. There was nothing anyone could do," said one neighbour in Graz, central Austria.



Mr Treirler said:"His old owner abandoned him and so we took him in 17 years ago, and noticed straight away that he was in the habit of eating cigarettes.

"He eats the tobacco and the paper, and then chews a while on the filter before spitting it out. On average he eats about 10 cigarettes a day, but all of his teeth are fine."

A local vet, Harald Mayr, said: "Nicotine normally leads to poisoning in dogs, but in this case the animal has obviously become addicted to it which has increased its level of tolerance."