A dog owner has slammed her council after her beloved pet lurcher was left with a horrific gash across its back from razor sharp spikes attached to a security gate.
Savanagh Pyer revealed gruesome images of her beloved family dog Jess’ exposed flesh having had her skin ripped off by ‘extremely sharp spikes’ on a council gate on Tuesday afternoon.
Savanagh’s older brother, 27, had taken Jess for a stroll on a popular footpath near Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, when she slipped and caught her back on a spike.
Savanagh Pyer revealed gruesome images of her beloved family dog Jess’ exposed flesh having had her skin ripped off by ‘extremely sharp spikes’ on a council gate on Tuesday afternoon
Savanagh’s older brother, 27, had taken Jess for a stroll on a popular footpath near Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, when she slipped and caught her back on a spike. Shocking images show large sharp spikes ‘like knives’ sticking out from a circular wheel-shaped end of the fence – some at groin height, some even at head height
Shocking images show large sharp spikes ‘like knives’ sticking out from a circular wheel-shaped end of the fence – some at groin height, some even at head height.
The 24-year-old said the lurcher screamed and then fell down the bank to the river where she ‘could have been swept away’.
Without his phone on him her brother panicked but was helped by teenagers who helped call his mother and Jess, nine, was rushed to a local veterinary clinic.
But with no vet nurse at work they were unable to operate on her until Wednesday and Savanagh said the vet claimed he’d never ‘in his life’ seen a wound like that.
One horrific photo shows a huge gaping hole along Jess’ back while another shows the raw wound tightly stitched up, her fur having been shaved off.
In one close-up where Savanagh, a carer for her younger brother, is showing just how sharp the spikes are, it appears like she’s holding her hand against the blade of a sword.
Yet after informing Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council of the horrific injury, Savanagh was appalled to be told that the fence would ‘not be affecting any members of the public’.
Savanagh, from Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said: ‘[Jess] caught her back on the fence, ripping her skin away from her body. She literally peeled the whole of her back off.
‘[Yesterday morning when I reported the incident] they basically just said it should not cause harm or danger to the public.
The 24-year-old said the lurcher screamed and then fell down the bank to the river where she ‘could have been swept away’. Without his phone on him her brother panicked but was helped by teenagers who helped call his mother and Jess, nine, was rushed to a local veterinary clinic
‘I just said ‘well we’ve proven you wrong it has caused harm to the public and I’ve sent you the pictures of the dog’ and I’ve had no response since.
‘[Their lack of response is] absolutely disgusting. We’ve landed with a vet’s bill for hundreds and hundreds of pounds, the fence is still there [and] someone else is going to get hurt.
‘It’s too late now, she’s already hurt and in agony and they’re not interested. They don’t care. There’s no concern there.
‘I want them to take the fence down or change the type of fence that it is and I want to be compensated for the vet’s fees. I’d like to send them the bill.
‘The only thing it’s stopping is the bridge and we didn’t try and cross the bridge, the dog didn’t try and cross the bridge. The gate is right next to a public path. You don’t have to try and cross the bridge to get injured by it.
‘It’s absolutely disgusting that anybody in health and safety would approve that. It needs to be taken down immediately because it’s such a danger to the public.’
Savanagh claims that Jess is lucky to be alive as she was so badly injured she could have been swept away in river.
However unfortunately Jess’ injuries are so severe the family fear that their beloved dog may not pull through the gruelling op.
Savanagh said: ‘Jess slipped and caught her back on the fence. She screamed and then fell down the bank to the river. She ended up half in the water.
‘She just wouldn’t move. It was as if the shock and adrenaline had taken over. She was just lying on the floor.
In one close-up where Savanagh, a carer for her younger brother, is showing just how sharp the spikes are, it appears like she’s holding her hand against the blade of a sword
‘My brother didn’t have his phone on him so he was panicking.
‘Some teenagers saw him and helped him get her back up. They then phoned my mother for my sister to go pick them up in the car because Jess couldn’t walk very far.
‘We got her home, phoned the vet and then rushed her to the vet straight away.
‘The vet saw her but couldn’t get his vet nurse in to help operate so they operated the next morning, which was yesterday.
‘The vet and owner of the vet’s practice [who operated] said he’s never in his life seen a wound like that. He said it was the most complicated operation he’s ever performed on a dog.
‘He said they had to cut away most of the skin on her back because a lot of it was dead. She’s got loads of stitches and she hasn’t been able to move since [the operation].
‘[The vet] said if infection sets in that could cause gangrene and if it does we’re going to have to put her to sleep.
‘She’s not doing very well at all. She’s worse after the operation than she was before it. She hasn’t moved.
‘We couldn’t even get her out of the vet’s actually. She was lying on the floor and weeing herself and pooing herself.
‘She’s the most placid dog in the world but she actually bit my girlfriend because she was in so much pain.
‘Her wound was probably the size of a dinner plate. It’s just absolutely horrific.
‘[When we took her to the vet] we were all crying and crying. She’s 10 years old now and a big part of the family. We’ve had her since she was eight weeks old.
‘It’s just as if there are knives hanging off [the gate]. It’s so sharp it’s asking for trouble.
‘I dread to think if a child were to grab onto one of those – or a cat or an adult even.
‘Thank god she didn’t fall in the river because it’s been raining for about a month and the water levels are so high she would have just been swept away.
‘[To dog walkers] be extra vigil and stay well back. Don’t go near it yourself and don’t let your dogs go near it. There’s nothing at all to actually warn you of the dangers of it.’
A Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council spokesperson said: ‘The Council was saddened to hear about a recent injury sustained by a dog, near to Penydarran Tramroad Footbridge.
‘The fence was recently installed to prevent members of the public gaining access to a dangerous structure.
‘Whilst the Council believes that the fence does not put any members of the public at risk, due to it being set back off the footpath and spanning over a river bank, the Council is now looking at what possible measures can be taken, to prevent dogs and other animals attempting to crawl beneath the palisade fencing.’