A Dundee dog owner has warned of hidden dangers along common walking routes, after his pup’s paw was sliced open by broken glass in Clatto Woods.
Jeff Hughes was out walking with his young dog Bonnie at their usual spot on Wednesday evening.
He noticed Bonnie started limping half-way through the walk and, upon further inspection, realised the poor pup was bleeding heavily.
“When I checked her paw, my hand was immediately covered in blood,” said Jeff.
Bloody paw prints
Jeff tried to contain the bleeding and swiftly carried the injured dog home.
Bonnie’s owners were shocked at the extent of her injuries, as the pup’s wound left bloody paw prints across their floor.
He said: “After we got home, the bleeding seemed to get much worse and we had to take her to the emergency vets where she got antibiotics and bandaged.
“We’ve had to take her to the vet again so she can get stitches.
“The whole thing has been a big ordeal for her, she’s limping around the house trying not to put pressure on the paw.
“She won’t be able to enjoy her walks until her paw has healed.”
Jeff is now calling for the Dundee City Council to take more responsibility for cleaning up popular dog walking areas.
He said: “We keep noticing different parts of the woods where there’s some broken plastics and glass lying around.
“We try to avoid these areas but it’s becoming very difficult since there seems to be nobody around to clean this up and the people who make the mess don’t seem to care about tidying up behind themselves.
Council clean up
“The council should make more of an effort to clear dog walking areas of broken glass or anything else that might harm them.
“Especially since there’s been a boom in the number of dog owners since last year.
“This won’t be the last time that this happens as long as all the mess is left lying around.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Our Rapid Response Team provides a quick response to complaints about issues, such as litter, dog fouling, broken glass and weeds which could affect public areas and people’s experiences in the local environment.
“We would invite individuals to report any issues to the council directly and we can arrange for items to be cleaned up.”
