A CARELESS angler left a Williton woman with a £54 vet bill after a barbed hook on a fishing weight became embedded in her dog's mouth.

Seven-year-old labrador cross Charlie picked up the heavy and potentially lethal tackle close to the foreshore at Doniford Beach last Friday afternoon.

The weight had two hanging barbed hooks, both of which still had bait attached.

As he attempted to eat one the pieces of bait, the hook went through the inside of his cheek.

"It was impossible to get it out," said Charlie's owner.

"I had walked over to the beach from Williton so I had no means of even cutting the very strong nylon attaching the hook to the weight.

"Luckily, I had my mobile phone with me so I was able to contact my husband who came and picked me up in his van."

The couple rushed Charlie to Whitelodge Veterinary Clinic in Williton where he had to be sedated to have the hook removed.

"The vet had to make a couple of incisions and pull it through," said the woman.

"But Charlie had to be given antibiotics and pain killers.

"I was horrified to think that something as lethal as that piece of tackle had just been discarded on the beach.

"You would think a fisherman would know that he had lost it. It can't have been there for very long because it still had the bait on the end of both hooks.

"If a child had picked it up or stepped on it, they could have suffered a nasty injury."