Warning after dog severs artery on firework stake in Leicestershire

A dog owner has warned others about the dangers of disused fireworks after her American bulldog severed an artery in his paw.

Leanne Smith, 42, said Rossi was injured in her garden in Measham, Leicestershire, on Sunday.

The "bouncy puppy" trod on the sharp end of a firework stake that had landed in her garden.

She said he was now on the mend but vets have told her he might never have full use of his whole foot again.

Ms Smith said it happened the morning after Bonfire Night when she let two-year-old Rossi out into the garden.

"He'd been out there a couple of seconds when we heard a yelp," she said.

"We ran outside and his foot was just pouring with blood."

She wrapped his left paw in a towel and took him straight to the vets where he was taken straight through to surgery.

Ms Smith said: "He cut his artery and two of his tendons, which they couldn't repair.

"He had to have four layers of stitches in his foot.

"They said he would probably never have full use of two of his toes and he might walk with a limp."

She said the injury was caused by a firework stake that had landed upside-down in her garden.

"It had managed to get wedged between a step and a fence panel in my yard.

"It was sticking straight up and as he ran around, because he's quite a bouncy puppy, he managed to land straight on the stick, on the sharp end," she said.

Ms Smith had not set off any fireworks herself and was not sure where the stake had come from.

She said Rossi was now on the mend and warned other dog owners to look out for disused firework stakes.

"In your own garden you just don't think about it, especially if you haven't had fireworks yourself," she said.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].