Left fighting for life, terrier stung by jellyfish off a British beach
WHEN Sarah Evans let her wire fox terrier Peppa off the lead for a doggy paddle at the beach, she didn’t think to scour the waves for danger.
But a jellyfish sting left her pet with burns so severe it was feared she would die.
Mrs Evans, who thought nothing of letting Peppa play in the water at Saundersfoot beach in Pembrokeshire, said her six-yearold pet showed no sign of injury at first but was in agony within days of being stung.
She said: ‘Peppa had not been in the sea long and we never saw any jellyfish in the water near her.
‘She only sniffed at one that was on the beach but we never even saw her touch it so when she fell ill we didn’t think it could have been anything to do with that.
‘But the wounds on her back kept getting bigger and bigger and in the end they looked really bad so we rushed her to the emergency vets in Carmarthen.’
The attack, which caused Peppa to be violently sick for days, burned away large patches of her fur and left gaping wounds which became badly infected.
Mrs Evans, from Tonypandy, South Wales, added: ‘Thankfully, the nurse there had seen a jellyfish sting like this before so recognised it almost immediately.
‘But it was so bad we thought we were going to lose her. They cut all of the dead skin away, it was awful.’
Peppa’s severe injuries were all the more surprising as they were caused by the usually harmless barrel jellyfish.
It is common in the UK but its sting is generally not powerful enough to do any serious harm, though swimmers are warned it is best not to touch them.
The jellyfish’s tentacles are barbed, and barbs which were left buried in Peppa’s skin produced the violent immune response that left Peppa in danger.
Peppa’s vet, Lynn Davies, said: ‘We believe Peppa had a bad reaction, similar to an allergic reaction, in which the blood vessels constricted and cut off the blood supply, causing these injuries.
‘Most of them are healing very, very well now though there is one quite deep wound at the back that we will have to keep an eye on.
‘But this was an extreme example so people should not panic when taking their dogs out. This is the worst example I have seen. But if you do see jellyfish around then I would advise owners to be careful and not allow the dogs too close.’
Mrs Evans added: ‘I think there are a lot of dogs at risk up and down the country so I shared what had happened to Peppa on social media so that it wouldn’t happen to anyone else’s dogs.
‘People have been in touch with me since to tell me they had no idea how dangerous it was and they will now be careful around jellyfish with their dogs.’