The owners of a dog seriously injured on a large metal spike partially buried on a Co Down beach have warned of the dangers debris in long grass near coastal walks.
Kim and Alan Mulholland from Co Down, have been nursing their Labrador mix Ele back to fitness after she was impaled by a rusty spike from a discarded lobster pot.
The metal had been washed onto the beach, was concealed by foliage a few metres from water's edge near Sandeel Lane in Orlock , Co Down when the four-year-old dog ran onto it.
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Kim said: "She's so lucky to be alive. Ele and our other dog Elton were running in and out of the water and were running about on the beach chasing each other when suddenly Ele stopped on the sand and started whimpering very loudly.
"My husband could see there was blood running down Ele's leg and tried to clean her up with tissues as he called me to get me to come over with the car as quickly as possible.
"At that stage we knew she was injured and we needed to get her to the vet but we didn't know how badly or in fact how lucky she was not be be dead.
"When I got to them Alan had tried to carry Ele but she was too distressed. She tried to walk but was obviously in a lot of pain and in shock. we we got her to the car and straight to the vet.
"A metal spike had punctured the side of her body and ripped through her skin and muscle but stopped just alongside her ribs so no vital organs were damaged, but she was in a real mess with skin hanging down, blood all over her and she was covered in sand from the beach.
"The vet got to work and Alan and I went back to Orlock to see if we could find what she had been impaled by and try to remove it. We look every where and it was our Beagle Elton, who found the spike that still had Ele's hair on it.
"It turned out to be an old lobster pot, the metal rusted and parts of it broken away and it was partially buried in sand and the top of of it was covered by foliage along the side of the beach.
"It took quite an effort to remove it and the other parts of the lobster pot because they were buried. But we couldn't leave it there for another dog to a child to fall onto. We took it to the vet to show them while we waited to hear how Ele was and then we took it home and discarded of it safely.
"Due to the fast growth of grass at the minute we are warning people to keep a close eye on their dogs and children playing on coastal paths - there was no way we could have seen the danger our dogs were in on Saturday."
Almost a week after her ordeal, Ele is recovering and had had her stitches out and Alan and Kim say they are getting over the initial shock of the situation.
Kim said: "We weren't ourselves for days. As a family we love our dogs and would do anything to keep them safe. But this just showed us how easily an accident can happen.
"I slept with Ele for the first two nights after her wound was dealt with by the vet. On day three she slept up beside me and after that she went back to her bed with Elton although we kept them close - and she even went to the hair dresser with me.
"We are so grateful that her injuries were not worse and that out vet at Pets For Vets in Bangor managed to help her so quickly and with no infections."
Lobster and crab pots get washed up on beaches along the eastern coast of Northern Ireland regularly after coastal storms. Beach walkers are advised to to remove them to a safe place if they can do so with no risk to themselves.
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