A four-month-old puppy has been forced to undergo an operation to remove a discarded fish hook he swallowed on a Deal beach.

Donna Head, 48, who lives in Deal, who received her adorable chocolate labrador Otis as a Christmas present from her partner, Mark Mcintyre, had no choice but to pay £1,100 to have it safely removed.

She is now asking anglers to be more careful and warning other dog owners and parents of young children of the dangers.

She said: “If the fishermen are going to throw away their fish, they should make sure the hooks are out first. I don’t know what someone would do if it happened to their dog and they didn’t have the money.”

Ms Head was walking Otis off the pebbles, by the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club on Friday, when it happened.

She said: “It was the first time I’d let him off his lead. We weren’t even on the beach because he’s still only a puppy and I was wary of the water.

“I noticed he was standing still for a bit too long so I called him but he wouldn’t come.

“I ran over and I saw fishing wire hanging out of his mouth. My first thought was that he had eaten some seaweed and the wire was tangled in it.

“I pulled it, which I now know is the worst thing I should have done, and he let out a little yelp.

“I knew it was attached to something and I panicked.”

Ms Head wrapped the dangling wire around Otis’s collar so he didn’t step on it and swiftly returned home before driving to Whitemill Vets in Sandwich.

There, an X-ray located a two-inch fishing hook inside him that had torn his oesophagus.

He was transferred to Vets Now in Canterbury where he underwent a half-hour operation before being kept in overnight.

Ms Head, who has another chocolate labrador, 12-year-old Molly, said: “The vet said we were so lucky.

“If it had been any further down his throat it would have been near his heart and they would have had to open up his chest cavity to operate.

“We were so lucky she could do it through his mouth.”

Otis has been prescribed antibiotics to fight any infection he might have picked up from the rust on the hook.

He has to eat soft food but is expected to make a full recovery within seven to 10 days.

Ms Head said: “He is okay in himself but it was a close call. I’d just like to warn others and make the fishermen more aware.”