Dog owners on the Costa del Sol have been warned of a potentially fatal threat along the region’s beaches.
A local resident and a vet have both sounded the alarm over a spike in dogs ingesting fishing hooks.
The dangerous contraptions are left behind by fishermen and often have bait attached to them.
One vet shared an X-ray of a recent dog who had to have a hook removed from their stomach.
Speaking to @Marbellasequeja, they said: ‘I’m a veterinarian at a hospital in Mijas, and every day we see cases of dogs eating fishhooks on the beach, with a much higher incidence over the past month.
‘Most are fine; the hooks are removed endoscopically without incident. But others become complicated, requiring surgery, or the hooks are lodged in difficult places, which can even be fatal.
‘And it’s all because of careless and inconsiderate fishermen who leave their hooks in the sand.
‘On several occasions, I’ve even had to remove them from the dog beach; it’s a disgrace.’
They added: ‘It’s a very worrying problem. Yesterday, even without my dog, I found a hook in the sand that could have pierced me or a child.’
Meanwhile, in Torremolinos, a local resident shared a photo on Instagram of a fishing hook that was removed from their dog’s stomach.
They wrote: ‘I wanted to warn people who have dogs to be very careful.
‘This is what they pulled out of my dog’s stomach, a fishhook that was among the flowers in the grass next to the Granier beach in La Carihuela.
‘I don’t know if it was hidden maliciously, but the fact that the vet told us it’s an everyday occurrence should be enough to get the City Council to take action.
‘Until then, be careful when walking your dogs.’
Read more Costa del Sol news at the Spanish Eye.
