Warning to dog owners after adder bite

Dog owners have been asked to keep their pets on leads to help protect adders, as a charity warns of their "shocking and rapid decline".

The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation said dogs were more at risk of being bitten in the spring as adders bask in the sun trying to warm up while coming out of hibernation.

It comes as Larissa Lewis's golden retriever was bitten by an adder at Scout Scar in Kendal, Cumbria, on Sunday.

Howard Inns, from the charity, said there were "few sites that support significant numbers of adders" and asked people walking in nature to "get to know their local habitat and celebrate adders sightings".

Lewis said her brother was out walking her dog, Connie, when he saw her "suddenly jump back" in front of him as he found the snake on Sunday afternoon.

She said they did not think Connie had been bitten so he carried on walking and returned to her mother's home about 45 minutes later.

"She ate her breakfast and I initially thought she was just tired, as she was sitting, but looked like she was dozing... then she started to touch her face.

"She moved her head slightly and I noticed the swelling starting to literally increase second by second."

"I immediately called the vets and I got there in less than 10 minutes," she said.

Lewis said the vets struggled to source anti-venom, with the nearest facility being in Manchester.

"We then got a callback to say they had sourced some from Windermere... so she's now safe and well.

"I don't like snakes, but I wouldn't want them extinct.

"My dad, in Kenya, always said, 'If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone, also, they're more frightened of you than you are of them,'" Lewis added.

A 2019 study found that adders - protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 - could disappear from the British countryside altogether by 2032.

Inns said the decline in populations was "steep, with them being extinct in some counties in the Midlands, which is a tremendous loss".

"Adders are fascinating and beautiful creatures but there are few sites now that support significant numbers of them.

"The fact that adders are found there is something to be celebrated because there are so few sites that have a strong population," he said.

He advised dog owners to keep pets on leads and "take an interest in what sensitive wildlife there is" in the areas they walk in.

"Having dogs on leads prevents disturbance to all sorts of wildlife and it's a good habit to get into," he added.

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