Don’t fetch it, Rex! 1.4m dogs hurt by sticks

THROWING a stick for your dog to fetch is a seemingly harmless pastime.

But stick-related injuries are affecting 1.4million dogs a year, a study suggests.

Pets are being impaled on branches that lodge in the ground, and suffering painful mouths full of splinters.

Stick injuries can also rack up vet bills costing hundreds or even thousands of pounds, an insurance company warns.

Direct Line Pet Insurance found that 14 per cent of dogs – an estimated 1.4million – have been hurt by a stick across the UK. The firm estimates that insurers process a claim every 30 minutes from an owner whose pet has been injured by a branch.

One dog required veterinary care costing £7,600. And even an average claim for a stick-related injury is £795.

Around one in ten dogs (891,000) have suffered splinters by chewing on a stick, while more than 690,000 injuries were caused when playing fetch with a stick – 396,000 when the owner has thrown it and 297,000 when someone else has.

Eva Sandstra-Bennett, head of pet insurance at Direct Line, urged dog owners ‘to throw sustainable, speciallydesigned dog toys instead’.