A DOG owner is urging anglers to take extra care to ensure they do not leave any of their fishing tackle behind after his dog swallowed a hook.

Joe Brewer, who lives in Broad Chalke, took his dog carp fishing at Todber Manor in Dorset on August 18.

He says when he was setting up his fishing equipment, Dobby was sniffing around the area, which was very quiet at the time, and started trying to eat some fishing bait (boilie) that had been left behind.

"I kicked it away and put him back on his bed and once I had finished putting all my gear up I looked at the dog and he was trying to eat the boilie again. But this time he had succeeded and I was shouting at him to drop it but it was too late, he had swallowed it," said Joe.

"Putting him back on his bed again I noticed some fishing line by his leg so I picked it up and saw it led straight to his mouth and that's when my heart sank and I instantly realised he had swallowed a hook."

Dobby, who is 12-years-old was taken to the vets by Joe's mum Shirley, who met him half-way in the car to pick up the dog. Once at the vets, he was x-rayed.

Joe added: "They told my mum there and then that if it was stuck in the back of his tongue it would cost about £300 but if it had gone down to his stomach it would have cost thousands.

"Luckily, it was in the back of his tongue, but this still cost us a large bill that came to £410 and hit us hard because we can't afford that amount."

He says the incident has put him off of taking his dog fishing with him in the future.

Joe says Dobby is recovering well after the incident. 

He said: "I would really like people to realise how much damage they can do by leaving tackle on the bank and this is aimed at anglers not the venue where this happened because its not their fault and not their job to clear up behind people. They are busy enough making it one of the best places available for us to fish."