A WORRIED dog owner faced a race against time after her labrador was bitten by an adder while she was walking on Dartmoor.
Beverley Morris, aged 49, was strolling through a grassy area of Postbridge at midday on Tuesday with her four labradors when one-year-old Nancy yelped in pain.
"I saw her step on something and shriek," Beverley said. "I knew it was an adder. I was a mile away from my car and had to find the quickest route back."
Beverley said she noticed two large marks on Nancy's paw and rushed her to a vet surgery near her home in Stoke.
But she was told they did not have the correct antivenom and travelled to other branches in Kingsbridge and Modbury, where she finally got the required dose.
"It's the second time it's happened to me in five years, I have been told we were very unlucky," Beverley said.
"The vets won't officially say that she has been bitten by an adder unless you have actually seen it, but once they have been bitten they want to get away. Her reaction was the same as my other dog. She was pretty distressed."
Beverley said she was concerned for Nancy's health, but tried to stay calm.
"I have been through it before, my other dog was bitten on the face which is much worse," she said. "It's rare for a dog to die from an adder bite but we didn't want to be that rare case. I was pretty stressed about it, a member of the family bring hurt is never nice."
Nancy is now back home recovering, but will have to undergo more blood tests in the near future.
"She is not too bad, the leg is swollen, we expect it to be like that for five days," Beverley said. "It's an extremely worrying time."
Last month The Plymouth Herald reported that a German Shepherd was bitten on the tongue while she was walking on Roborough Down.
Peter Bean was walking his two large canines Taz and Chloe on Roborough Down when the four-year-old female was bitten.
Mr Bean said he wanted to warn other dog owners and parents of young children to be vigilant while enjoying the rugged landscape.
"I don't think people realise there are adders around. If you have a young boy or girl, all it takes is for them to try and pick one up and it could be quite nasty.
"It is a matter of making sure you can see your dog and making sure you're alert especially when there's a sun trap because that's where they like to warm themselves."
