How do Australians save the lives of their dogs? By getting them completely blotto on vodka, of course. The Animal Accident and Emergency hospital in Melbourne, Australia, explained in a recent blog post that it treats two to three cases of ethylene glycol poisoning per year at its 24-hour emergency centers. Commonly found in anti-freeze solutions, ethylene glycol is also often found in radiator and brake fluids. Bright green in color and tasting very sweet, many a dog will come upon a small stain in the garage and soon find himself unable to resist licking it all up till it’s gone. Yet the chemical easily causes kidney failure in dogs, even when ingested in tiny amounts. Within days, a pet may even die.

When Charlie arrived at the emergency center with his owner, Jacinta Rosewarne, staff immediately figured out what had gone wrong with the sick-as-a-dog Maltese terrier. They grabbed a bottle of vodka and took action. First, they inserted a tube through Charlie’s nose and fed it down to his stomach. And then, over the course of about 48 hours, they gave him doses of vodka, the easiest form of alcohol to absorb. Essentially, alcohol alters the chemical reaction transpiring in the digestive tract and prevents kidney failure.

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vodka cure You Tube

“In fact for the whole weekend, Charlie had a huge party with us in the Pet ICU,” the veterinarians wrote in their post. Well, Absolut-ly!

"He was definitely drunk,” Rosewarne told the Herald Sun News. “He was stumbling around. I'd go to pat him and he'd push me a way like a normal drunk person. He was vomiting a little, whining like a drunk. It was distressing but funny at the same time. He just slept and slept and slept.”

Throughout the weekend, the emergency center’s staff and Rosewarne monitored Charlie’s progression watching for signs of a complete recovery. Sent home this morning, his owner says the poor fellow's still nursing a hangover. "I tried to take him for a walk but he just sat down after 50 metres," she said. "I had to pick him up and carry him home." Watch his story below, courtesy of YouTube: