10/08/2026
A dogwalkers life is never boring but today's was pretty harrowing.
Just after I arrived at Skateraw for my first walk, a visitor to the area told me about a deer that was caught in a fence, badly hurt but still alive. She didn't know who to contact so left me dealing with it. The dogs all had a dip in the sea to cool off before I put them back in the van and went to try find the poor creature. It was a youngster and its one back leg was caught in the top strand of barbed wire on a fence. The leg was badly broken (exposed bone) with the foot literally only attached by skin. It was obviously exhausted and scared and it's distressed mother was nearby.
Thankfully there was a farmer in a tractor collecting bales in the adjoining field & with some wild arm waving I managed to get his attention and he put down the bale and drove over to me. He immediately offered to help and on seeing the poor thing we both agreed it could not survive that injury in the wild. Thankfully he had a knife with him and he managed to put it out of it's misery straight away. It was awful, but it was definitely the kindest thing to do. Those soft eyes will haunt me though!
Then back to the van to restart the walk. Thankfully the beach was empty and watching the dogs enjoying life helped a bit. But then I found a long (+/- 8") sharp but rust metals spikes in a lump of cement sitting at a 45degree angle right on the edge of the water. I can only imagine the damage that could do to a dog (or human). I wasn't risking leaving that anywhere so I brought it home to ensure it's safe disposal.
Thankfully 2nd walk at Binningwoods was a bit less eventful.