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Dog dies after eating wires left by Verizon

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Cedar the dog has died after eating toxic wires left behind by a Verizon utility worker.

Cedar ate telephone wires left behind by Verizon over the weekend. The wires are extremely toxic to dogs and he needed an emergency double blood transfusion.

His owner, Gabriel Lullo, took Cedar to Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Tuesday night for the procedure, which costs $6,000. Cedar was given a 50/50 chance of survival.

The blood transfusion was successful and Cedar was recovering in an oxygen chamber when his lungs collapsed around 10:30pm Wednesday night. Shortly thereafter, Cedar passed away.

Lullo tells 7 Eyewitness News that Verizon sent a crew to his Buffalo home on Wednesday and the company confirmed the wires and other tools were left behind by their crew earlier this month. The company has promised to reimburse him up to $5,000 for the vet bills.

But with the higher cost of the procedure and other veterinary bills incurred, the amount offered by Verizon won't cover everything Cedar went through.

A GoFundMe account has been set up for anyone who wants to help.