In a cabinet atop Jane Scarola's fridge, securely wrapped in a towel, lies a 13-inch serrated knife, the kind that cuts metal and concrete in those TV ads, that never needs sharpening.
The blade's current resting place is far preferable to its previous one: The stomach of Scarola's mischievous Saint Bernard puppy, Elsie.
The knife remained undetected in Elsie's gut for about four days until her distraught owner sought the aid of a vet who, once he overcame his disbelief, surgically removed it.
"I'm surprised she's alive," said a relieved Scarola.
The 43-year-old Plantation woman noticed her six-month-old pup seemed depressed Tuesday. That night, Elsie trembled on the kitchen floor. Scarola took herto the Imperial Point Animal Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, where veterinarian Jon-Paul Carew, baffled by Elsie's distress, ordered up some X-rays.
He couldn't believe what he saw. "I was just flabbergasted," Carew said. "I thought it was some kind of joke."
There was the knife, lodged between Elsie's esophagus and stomach. The puppy had swallowed it handle first. The only safe way to remove the blade was to cut open Elsie's belly, which Carew did the next morning in a two-hour operation.
"I've taken other things out of dogs, like shish kebab skewers, toys, small utensils, but never a blade," he said.
After plenty of antibiotics and intravenous feeding, Elsie was ready Thursday morning to go home to Scarola, her four teens and husband. "She was bright and alert, eating well, a goofy little puppy," the vet said.
Scarola said she had used the knife to carve a turkey last Saturday, and placed it on her counter far from the edge. Still, Elsie or one of Scarola's other dogs -- four Saint Bernards, a German shepherd and a Labrador -- must have somehow fetched it away.
"She wants to eat everything and anything," said Scarola, who now keeps close watch on the pet's diet. Elsie's only memento is an 8-inch scar. Scarola has a vet bill of nearly $1,700 -- and the culprit knife.
"I'm going to frame it and give it to Dr. Carew," Scarola said. "He should hang it. Everybody should know what puppies are capable of putting down their throats."