Fish hook gets stuck in dog and owner at Cairns beach

An elderly woman who endured a harrowing ordeal after she was hooked to her dog for hours has pleaded with anglers not to abandon tackle at Queensland beaches.

The incident happened at the mouth to Barr Creek.

An elderly woman who endured a harrowing ordeal after she was hooked to her dog for hours, has pleaded with anglers not to abandon tackle at Queensland beaches.

Emergency services were called to O’Shea Esplanade at Machans Beach on Saturday to help a 79-year-old woman.

The woman from Yorkeys Knob asked not to be named but said she was dog sitting at a Holloways Beach home when she went for a beach walk in the vicinity of Barr Creek.

She said Treppes the rescue dog was running along the beach and took off into the dunes before returning with a fishing lure stuck in his lower gum.

“She flicked her head and it got caught in my finger,” she said.

“I was stuck with the dog, and everything she moved the pain was horrific.

“I was screaming out for help and I was thinking what do I do now?”

A woman who was pet sitting a dog at Holloways Beach was joined to her dog by a treble fish hook for two hours at the weekend. Picture: Supplied

The pet sitter said bystanders to the incident helped her and the dog until paramedics arrived.

But for almost two hours her hand was hitched to the dog’s mouth.

“It was lucky the tide was going out,” the pet sitter joked.

“Gradually the guy that was helping me (assisted) me down onto the sand to make it more comfortable.”

Treppes the rescue dog enjoying a beach run before the incident. Picture Supplied

Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Fire Department arrived at the beach and pliers were used to cut the treble hook.

The woman then presented to the Cairns Hospital where the barb of the hook was removed from her finger.

She then went to the after-hours emergency vet to get the remainder of the hook removed from Treppes and paid a $491 bill.

She finally got home just before midnight

“What a drama,” she said.

The woman had to get the hook surgically removed at the Cairns Hospital. Picture: Supplied

The Yorkeys Knob woman said according to the treating vet it was quite common for dogs to get fish hooks stuck in their mouth and fur.

She wanted something positive to come from her horrific ordeal by bringing awareness to the danger of ghost fishing hooks and line.

“The fisherman should dispose of fishing lines properly,” she said.

Originally published as Fish hook gets stuck in dog and owner at Cairns beach