A 12-WEEK-OLD puppy died after swallowing fishing hooks on the beach in a tragic accident.

Ziggy, a female Hungarian Vizsla, was purchased to provide companionship for Herbie Little, a 20-year-old from Bridport with severe learning difficulties, by his parents, Emily Richmond and Simon Little.

Herbie and Emily were walking Ziggy at West Bay with friends when the puppy swallowed two baited hooks on a prepared fishing line which was lying on the beach next to an angler.

Ziggy was only a few metres in front of her owners but was able to swallow the hooks before either Emily or the angler knew what she was doing.

She was rushed into Haydon Vets in Bridport and underwent surgery for six hours. The vet was able to remove the hooks but the length and severity of the operation was too much for the young pup and she sadly died.

The surgery would have cost £2,000 but Haydon's waived the fee.

Emily said she felt for the angler who was helpful and expressed concern.

Emily said: "Herbie was absolutely distraught. Ziggy was only a few metres in front but she grabbed the hooks before any of us realised what was happening. The line was coming out of her mouth and we immediately called the vets.

"It was really shocking, it happened in the blink of an eye. We went from having a lovely tranquil walk to running down the beach with the puppy in pain and frothing from the mouth.

"The fisherman was really helpful and was worried about Ziggy - I do feel for him, it was far from intentional."

She added: "The vets were absolutely amazing, they were brilliant. They sent me a card to say how sorry they were and phoned me the next day to ask if I was ok and if I had any questions."

Herbie's father, Simon Little, said: "It's tragic, it’s an awful thing for my son to have to go through.

"There was a lot of commotion in front of my son who wouldn’t have understood what was going on apart from that the dog was in danger. He witnessed that and it must have been horrible for him.

"Having a dog is a very important thing for Herbie. There is scientific evidence that people with disabilities benefit from the interaction of having a dog. That companionship for children with learning difficulties is extremely important. Ziggy had been trained to acclimatise with my son and they were both conditioned to each other."

He added: "The fisherman obviously didn’t realise. He was loading up one line and left two in the sand. He was very apologetic but fishermen do need to be made aware that they shouldn’t leave baited lines lying on the beach."

Having bought the dog to keep Herbie company, Emily and Simon paid to have Ziggy correctly trained to provide companionship and comfort for someone with Herbie's difficulties.

Fortunately for the family, they were contacted by the breeder they purchased Ziggy from to tell them there was another puppy available to keep Herbie company.

Simon and Emily decided to take the breeder up on the offer and the new pup has been named Attenborough - after famous nature broadcaster Sir David, known for his longevity.