Spaniel rushed to vet after eating drug-contaminated human poo left by campers at popular beach in Northumberland

Rebecca Ashworth-Earle was walking her five dogs at Druridge Bay in Northumberland when her spaniel Luna found the excrement in the sand dunes.

The 33-year-old dog photographer was able to get Luna away, but when she returned home she noticed her pet was not right.

The dog was rushed to the vet, who suspected she had ingested cannabis.

After being forced to vomit Luna has made a full recovery, but Rebecca says the problems posed by wild campers reoccur every year.

She said: “I live locally to Druridge Bay and I walk my dogs there twice a day. Over the summer people leaving rubbish and camping overnight always gets worse.

“The dogs do occasionally find human excrement. Some roll in it, some eat it.

"When Luna went over to it I saw the toilet paper and I knew what it was, but she had already eaten it.

“When I got home I looked at her and she did not look very well and her eyes were really wide. She had not eaten anything else so I knew what it was.

“I rang the vet and they suspected it was probably cannabis or something else someone had taken before going to the toilet on the beach. Luna did not have a clue where she was.

“Drugs have a really potent effect on dogs. They are not used to it.”

There are legal campsites nearby, but the number of people illegally camping on the dunes has risen in recent years, with landowner the National Trust struggling to enforce the rules.

Rebecca continued: “It is another bit of the dunes that I cannot walk on. Luna is 10-years-old but really fit. If it had been my older dog who is 13, he might have died.

“The human waste side of it is a big thing for me. What if your kids step in it?

“From a health perspective, I am pregnant so I do not want to be hosing human waste off my dogs.

"I did not need that on a Monday evening. It has happened so many times, I am sick of it.

“People wild camping has gotten progressively worse since Covid. People have realised how nice the area is and the National Trust is struggling to enforce it.”

Cllr Scott Dickinson, who represents Druridge Bay ward, said the problem is “raised every year” and that campers “do not realise the consequences.”

He said: “I have been encouraging people to use the facilities that we have got. There is a campsite, it is not far, and there are washing and toilet facilities.

“You can make yourself a bit more comfortable and look after the local area.”

A spokesperson for the National Trust added: “We are aware of concerns about littering and fly-camping on the coastline, which can all cause significant harm to landscapes, wildlife, and communities, and we are working with partners to manage and deter this kind of behaviour.

“We ask everyone who visits the bay to follow the Countryside Code and observe a few simple guidelines to help protect this coastline.”