A dog owner has told of his horror when his beloved pooch was gravely injured whilst on a walk across a Darlington field.

Luke Evers and his dog Cassie were on a walk around the old golf course behind Blackwell Grange Hotel in Darlington when she sustained a serious injury by running into a sharp stick.

A kind passer-by offered to give Luke and Cassie a lift to the nearest vets, but Luke was able to make his own way to the emergency clinic, where Cassie underwent surgery to have her wound stitched back up.  

But Luke is concerned that this is not the first time that an injury like this has occurred on the Blackwell Grange golf club; Cassie has previously cut her back on sharp wood, and other dogs have been gravely injured.

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Luke said: “We were walking in the area around the golf course, and Cassie was running about – as she runs past me, I saw that there was something on her side.

“I got closer and saw it was a massive cut, which was so deep that you could see behind her ribs.”

Luke rushed Cassie to the vet, who confirmed that the poorly pooch had been stabbed with a stick, and took her straight into emergency surgery to stitch up the wound and fit a drain.

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Emergency care for Cassie cost the family well over £1,000, and the dog has been wearing a cone since the incident.  

This is the second time that Cassie has been injured whilst playing on the Blackwell Grange fields – the first time, she sustained a “big cut” to her back.

At the time, Luke believed that it was just a general accident, but now thinks that it could have been caused by branches that has been cut haphazardly.

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It appears there have been repeated issues with dogs being injured around this area of Blackwell – with another person saying that their dog had to be put down after running into a protruding branch.

Luke said: “It is really difficult to see your pet in pain, and it has been horrible this week whilst she’s been wearing her cone – our other dog keeps trying to play with her like usual.

“There are loads of trees with pointy bits in the area. I have had other people telling me that their dogs have been hurt in similar circumstances and one even died.”