A dog-owner has been left facing a £2,500 vet's bill after her pet was severely injured by rubbish flytipped in a public park.

Samantha Forker's Staffordshire bull terrier cross Paddy suffered a near-severed leg when he ran into bushes in Wallington's Roundshaw Playing Field and smashed a vase that was among a huge heap of rubbish dumped there.

Vets told the 44-year-old she could pay £150 to have the leg amputated or £2,500 for it to be saved.

To preserve Paddy's quality of life, Mrs Forker and her husband Michael spent the money on saving his leg despite not having pet insurance.

Mr and Mrs Forker had hoped to be able to recoup the cost from the Sutton Council but it says the area where the incident occurred was highly secluded and, despite doing patrols there twice-a-day, litter pickers could not be expected to see the rubbish.

Mrs Forker said the incident happened in an area near the entrance in New Barn Close. She added: "He was only 17 months old and he's quite excitable.

He was on a lead but it's a long lead and he ran off into the bushes. I heard glass break so I pulled on the lead and he came back limping and I could see blood on him.

"When I got him back home to clear him up, I could see that his foot was recoiled and shrivelled because the Achilles tendon had been severed.

"I had a look at the area where it happened and about 15 feet into the bushes there was all this rubbish. The vase Paddy cut himself on had been balanced on top of a cushion."

Mrs Forker said although  she did not have pet insurance, she spoke to an insurance company that said she should speak to the council about compensation but Sutton Council said it is not responsible.

A spokesman said: "We were very sorry to hear about Paddy’s injury, however the taxpayer cannot be held responsible for these types of accidents.

"Unfortunately the location of the accident is in a secluded area with 15ft deep, dense vegetation which provides a natural divide between the park and the neighbouring properties. For this reason it was not noticed by the public or the council."

 

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