"Who hooked Barnie the dog?" asked Sharon Hodges, after her pet returned from mooching on the Ross river bank with a fish hook completely through his cheek, just millimetres from his eye. Sharon and Barnie were walking along the river bank on Thursday, January 25th, when Barnie met up with the hazardous hook and line. Sharon told The Ross Gazette: "On closer inspection this turned out to be a rather severe looking fish hook, with six hooks and barbs and a line attached to it. It was well and truly stuck right through a fold of skin. Barnie was very brave and stood still while I tried to unhook him, but unfortunately due it being right through, the barb would not release." Sharon said she phoned her boyfriend who is a handyman and who usually carries tools with him. He managed to get his four wheel drive vehicle to the river bank where Sharon waited with the stricken Barnie. "He managed to snip off the barb and we could then release the hook. Barnie seems unharmed after his ordeal, although the area was still a little bit puffy afterwards, hopefully he will be better soon. I would urge fishermen to please be extra careful with discarded or lost hooks and line, this time no real harm was done, but this could have been a child's eye or it could have caused a much more severe injury to a dog."
