TWO dog walkers are warning fellow pet owners to be vigilant after one of their animals was caught in an illegally-set deer trap.

Friends Christine Kipling and Michelle Hobbs were walking their dogs at Brussleton, near Shildon, on Tuesday evening when Ms Hobbs’ three-year-old black Labrador, Jess, disappeared, which was unusual for the animal as she normally stayed close to her owner.

After searching for the dog and calling her name numerous times without any response, they heard the sound of an animal in distress coming from an area of dense trees.

They found Jess with her head caught in a wire deer trap, which had been attached to one of the trees.

Ms Kipling, from Bishop Auckland, said: “The trap had been attached to the tree just at the right height for Jess to get her head into it.

“The wire had tightened around her neck and she was choking.

“We reached her just in time and released her after a struggle.

“She was very shaken but luckily unhurt.”

Ms Kipling said that on Monday evening, she had seen three youths at the same spot trying to set a Lurcher-type dog onto a fox cub, but they fled the scene when they saw her.

She urged people to be vigilant while walking in the area and to report anything suspicious to the police.

She said: “The more people keeping their eyes and ears open, the better chance we have of putting a stop to this barbaric behaviour.

“I dread to think what would have happened to Jess if we had given up searching and gone back to the car.

“It is really worrying. The dog wasn’t harmed, but it could have been so much worse.

“It is awful to think that there are things like that on public footpaths which could cause dogs to suffer a horrific death.

“It wasn’t far from the path and could have even been a child.”

PC David Littlefair, from Shildon Police, described the incident as “shocking” and said: “We will not condone any kind of behaviour like this and we would clamp down on anyone who is found being behaving in this way.”

Anyone with information about the incident, or to report similar occurrences, should call Shildon Police on 101.