A DOG owner is warning others after his pet suffered a nasty injury on a metal spike in the ground.

Andrew Keen was shocked when he saw that his Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Phoebe, had blood pouring from her paw and leg after a walk at north Walney on Saturday evening.

Mr Keen, 30, of Barrow, had been getting Phoebe in the car after a walk, when she ran over to a path to investigate. But she then limbed back with the open wounds.

She was rushed to the emergency vet to be treated.

While she was under the care of the vets, Mr Keen went back to the area, which is close to the borders of Walney airfield and North Walney Nature Reserve.

He found a metal rod sticking out of the ground, which he believes may have been filed into a spike maliciously to cause harm.

Mr Keen pulled the rod out of the ground and took it away with him.

Mr Keen said if the object was placed there maliciously, or not, he wants others to be aware that there may be other similar items which could impale a pet or a person and cause serious harm.

Phoebe, who has been owned by Mr Keen since she was nine-weeks-old, is recovering at home after having two sets of stitches and her leg and paw bandaged up.

Speaking about the incident, Mr Keen said: "Phoebe came back looking very sad. "Her paw was split and her paw and leg was pouring with blood.

"We took her to the vets and then I drove back to Walney to find what had caused her injuries. I found a 1.5metere metal rod with a spike sticking out of the ground. I think it had been done deliberately. It made me upset and angry if someone could do something like that. Phoebe, or a child could have been impaled on that. If she had run at it the other way she could have been impaled and been killed."

Mr Keen said others have reported sharp items in this area which could be dangerous to animals and people. There have been issues with discarded glass on the land. It is understood there was an old tip in this area, so some items may have been there for years.

Cumbria Police said they have not received reports of items being put in the ground on Walney to maliciously hurt people or animals.