Dog owners in the area are urging those smashing glass to be more considerate after a beloved family pet had the tendons in her right paw completely severed, needing specialist treatment. The family are anxiously awaiting the outcome of surgery on their dog, Lily – if unsuccessful, her leg will need to be amputated.

Lily, a five-year-old terrier, was being walked on Sunday, 26th August with another family dog on the Midsomer Norton cyclepath. Her owner explains: “As my partner walked alongside the Batch, Lily walked into the grassed/mud area, near the concrete shute that runs from the top of the Batch to the bottom. Lily yelped and ran out, her foot was pumping blood.

“My partner carried her home, struggling back to Westfield in the rain with both of our dogs. We rushed her into Rosemary Lodge, worried to death about how much blood she was losing. We left her in their care.

“Later, we received a phone call saying her injuries were so severe that they would need to refer her to a specialist to carry out surgery. All of the tendons in her right paw were severed, and two arteries were also severed. She was transferred to Langford Veterinary School, where she underwent her

operation, spending five days in total in veterinary care. She will now receive treatment for at least eight weeks, the outcome of the surgery is uncertain, and the vet is unable to give us the statistics of Lily’s recovery outcome, due to the severity of her injuries being uncommon. We now have a very long wait – if the operation is unsuccessful, then Lily will have to have her leg amputated.

“Lily is a beautiful, gentle dog, and now has weeks of medication, pain and discomfort with an uncertain outcome. It makes me so sad and angry that this was caused by the reckless and inconsiderate actions of others.

“We went to the area of the accident the day after to see if we could find whatever had caused Lily’s injury, and we discovered pieces of glass from numerous broken

alcohol bottles and drug canisters.

“These inconsiderate people have caused Lily ongoing distress; and although we have insurance, we are still going to have to find thousands of pounds on top of the insurance payout, which we don’t have.

“We really want people to be aware of serious harm that glass can cause, and how irresponsible it is to smash bottles in a public area.

“We removed all of the glass that we could find, and during this time, other dogs were coming into the area and we had to shout out to their owners to warn them and call their dogs away.”

Kind-hearted residents can donate for Lily’s treatment at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowd funding/fortheloveoflily