A WOMAN whose pet dog was seriously injured when he ran into a fine wire fence protecting the dunes at Sandbanks beach has launched a claim for compensation.

Carol Bayford is trying to recover the £3,600 cost of veterinary treatment for her two-year-old lurcher Charlie, who had cuts, bruises and a ruptured cruciate ligament. The Borough of Poole is denying negligence and has suggested that Charlie should have been on the lead.

The incident last January is one of three involving dogs injured on the fencing reported to the Daily Echo.

All the owners said the barrier was difficult to see.

Mrs Bayford, of Winton in Bournemouth, said: “It’s so dangerous.

“I went down to the site to take photos with my husband and I fell over one of the wires. I wonder how many other people this has happened to?”

She was with her disabled foster daughter, daughter and grandchildren near the Sandbanks cafe when Charlie was hurt.

“My daughter and grandchildren went down on the shore with the dog while I stayed on the promenade with the wheelchair,” she recalled.

“The dog ran back and didn’t see the wires at the bottom of the sand dunes.

He caught his front legs and somersaulted.

It was like a cheese wire effect on his legs. We drove straight to the vet. There was a lot of blood.”

Charlie had his wounds stitched, and three weeks later, after the bruising and swelling had gone down, he had a £2,800 ligament operation.

Afterwards, he had to be confined to one room for three months.

Mrs Bayford was told by the council that it held no information about previous similar accidents.

In 2009, a greyhound came within a centimetre of being fatally injured after running into one of the fences. Last week, the Echo also reported the case of a whippet who cut his front leg.

Tracey Moore, beaches team leader for Borough of Poole, said: “We have a record of two related incidents involving dogs from January and October of this year.

“There are no earlier recorded incidents.”

“Fences were originally erected to protect the sand dunes at Sandbanks and Shore Road beaches.

“Now that the dunes are established the fences are gradually being removed.

“The fence posts, which are marked with a lizard image, will remain in order to alert people that lizards may be present.”