A MINEHEAD dog owner is urging pet owners to be vigilant after her collie cross was poisoned while on a walk in the town.

Luisa Skinner found four-year-old Rafferty unable to stand and foaming at the mouth just hours after he had returned from a walk around the King George Recreation Ground.

She rushed him to a vet and, after emergency treatment, he was able to return home the same evening.

She told the Free Press: "Although he's as right as rain now, he did almost die and was in a terrible state.

"He was too ill for the vet to get a blood sample but they said he had definitely eaten some kind of toxin.

"To see him in that state was the most awful sight I have ever seen and I just want to let other people know they need to be careful."

She said her husband Paul had taken Rafferty to the recreation ground via Cat Lane, where he saw the family pet pick something up and eat it.

"The whole lane is disgusting and is covered in junk, so goodness knows what it was," Mrs Skinner said.

Last week, the Free Press revealed how half a dozen dogs had collapsed after eating rat poison.

All but one of the dogs had been taken for walks in the North Hill area of Minehead, while the other had been exercised in Wootton Courtenay.

Affected dogs succumb to the effects of poison extremely quickly and need to be treated swiftly if they are to survive.

In Rafferty's case, Mrs Skinner had only left him for an hour when she returned to find him collapsed on the floor.

She estimated he had eaten the unknown substance at around 7.30am and it had taken little over an hour and a half for him to be hit by the poison.

"It was very sad, but luckily he is all right now," she said.