Eloise Horsfield
EXCLUSIVE by Eloise Horsfield
A WOMAN whose dog nearly died after swallowing a fish hook is demanding a comprehensive beach clean-up programme.
Miranda Leslau, 42, was forced to pay €950 for an endoscopy after six-year-old JJ ingested the hook while walking near Cabopino beach.
The expat, from Mijas, wants to warn other dog owners after her vet said the accident is becoming increasingly common.
“At first I saw him running up and down and thought he had a jellyfish in his mouth,” said Leslau, originally from London, who owns a PR company.
“Then I saw the fish wire in his mouth, which had been cast aside by one of the many fishermen who do the same thing up and down the coast.
“He had gone for it because there was still a prawn attached to it.”
Leslau rushed JJ, a rescued Labrador-spaniel mix, to Urvet’s emergency vet surgery in Fuengirola where she was told the hook had entered his stomach.
“I was told if I had waited any longer the hook would have burst his gut and killed him,” she added.
She continued: “The Spanish need to create dog-friendly beaches, or the least they could do is clean them up.”
A spokesman for Urvet told the Olive Press it was ‘very common’ for dogs to swallow fish hooks.
“We had had the same thing happen just days before JJ and sometimes we have two like this in one day,” said vet Antonio Gruszczynski.
I DEMAND a clean up of all dogs detritus on the beach and elsewhere. Keep your dog off the beach rather than expect others to pay for your indulgence. Maybe get a small dog and heaven forbid ‘exercise’ it in the confines of your home or on a wheel
I thought rod and line fisherman were also banned from the beach. The latter cannot be true though as we often see barmy anglers on the beach with maybe 5 rods each overnight.
Another suggestion might be for specially trained dogs to seek out hooks on the beach
(tin hat ready)
if dog owners don´t pick up their dog shit in the street then that is very disgusting and irresponsible, but ON THE BEACH? guys what are you NOT thinking about… kids? everything? yuck? pick it up. The beach is not a toilet for you or your pets.
The venerated Town Hall in Mijas is now seeking to drop some of the dog exclusions on the beaches. How pathetic is that! These beaches are the life and soul of tourism and the Mijas/CDS money tree. The dogs are everywhere on the beaches, every day, very, very few on leads and most making a nuisance. I am not interested in befriending any canine or feline for that matter. Keep your dirty pets to yourselves.