Fears raised after dog swallows fishing hook

Marie Low, 40, was enjoying her daily stroll along the beach at Frinton with her two dogs, Mr Darcy and Betty, when disaster struck.

Miniature dachshund Mr Darcy made a dash for a lump of fish left behind on an abandoned fishing hook.

“I had to bite the line to free my pup from this mound of hooks and fish attached,” she said.

“I tried not to panic, even though I could see my dog was in discomfort, screaming every time he wriggled to free himself from it all.”

Marie, who works at Frintondene care home, grabbed the injured pooch and ran home.

Together with her aunt, she jumped in the car and rushed Mr Darcy to Kinfauns Veterinary Centre, in Clacton.

The vet reported the hook had been swallowed, coming to a rest in the dog’s oesophagus near its stomach.

A nervous wait followed as Mr Darcy was rushed to a specialist vets in preparation for potential surgery.

Marie said: “There was possible internal bleeding or perforated oesophagus and the possibility of more operations in the future.”

The specialist managed to successfully extract the hook, leaving Mr Darcy unharmed.

Marie, of Third Avenue, Frinton, issued a warning to people using fishing equipment along the coastline or out at sea.

“It isn’t just fishermen leaving their equipment behind, this stuff is also washing up on beaches in Clacton, Holland and Frinton,” she said.

“The vet said the pup is extremely lucky.

“I can’t thank Kinfauns Veterinary Centre and Dick White Referrals enough, they were just absolutely amazing.

“As lucky as I was, it’s difficult to stop this as it’s also coming from fishing boats.

“I’ve been living in Frinton all my life as have my family too and the beaches are getting more and more unsafe not only for dogs but children and wildlife.

“Dogs aren’t the only creatures to pick things up or stand on things.

“What if it was a child jumping over a breakwater at Frinton and landing on these hooks?

“It would have been horrific.”

A Tendring Council spokesman said: “This is not an isolated issue though incidents are relatively rare.

“We would urge fishermen to make sure they take all of their equipment with them when they have finished angling and leave the beaches as clean as they find them – for the safety of other beach users and to protect the environment."     

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs added: “Littering blights our communities, spoils our countryside and beaches and wantonly wastes taxpayers’ money cleaning it up.

“We all have a responsibility to keep our beaches and environment tidy.

"That is why we have recently launched our ambitious ‘Keep it Bin it’ anti-litter campaign in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy to make littering culturally unacceptable within a generation.”