Dog appeared 'possessed' after coming into contact with a venomous jellyfish in Flintshire

A dog was left violently ill after coming into contact with a venomous jellyfish at a beach in North Wales.

Ziggy, a cross of Border Collie Golden Retriever, was struggling to breathe after he licked a Lion's Mane jellyfish at the Talacre beach in Flintshire.His owner Hilary Pullen, 45, had taken photos of the Lion’s Mane jellyfish, thinking it was dead.

Recalling the incident, which took place on Monday August 7, she said: "He struggled to breathe, made strange gulping noises and developed a mania for grass.

"It was like he was possessed.”

They had barely reached Talacre lighthouse when Hilary came across a couple of stranded jellyfish.

By using Google Lens, she discovered they were Lion’s Mane jellyfish, whose tentacles can still deliver a nasty sting long after they have died.

The creatures, regarded as one of the world's longest, is said to have the "beauty and bite of a lion".Hilary said: “It was scary and not very nice to watch, it was like he was turning himself inside out.

"I knew I had to get him back to the car as he weighs 30kg and I wouldn’t be able to carry him. I got him on his lead but he was trying to eat anything that was growing - anything so that he could fill his stomach and be sick again.”Hilary hurried back to her home along with Ziggy in Prestatyn, Denbighshire.

She let Ziggy out into her garden and the 18-month-old dog began eating clumps of grass.

She said: “I’m aware it’s something dogs do when they are ill.

“He was manically eating grass, just trying to get something into his stomach. It was like he was possessed.

“He vomited again and, on my mother’s advice, I made some rice and eggs to fill his stomach and calmed down a little but was still making weird noises, like gulping sound, as though his throat was constricted.”Calling her vets, Hilary was advised to keep an eye on Ziggy’s breathing and only to bring him in if it deteriorated further.

Wanting to raise awareness of the incident, Hilary shared photos of the jellyfish on social media. From the reaction to her post, it quickly became clear this was not an isolated example.

Two dog owners shared what happened to their pets on Barkby beach, Prestatyn. “Was too late to pull him off completely,” said one. “He ate loads of grass and seemed to hurt when he swallowed, but (he) was fine a couple of hours later.”The other said: “My sausage dog did that (and) had to take him to vets for an anti-sickness injection. He was only one at the time but fine after, thankfully. So scary though.”Another owner said her pup began having breathing issues after digging up a jellyfish buried in sand. She added: “Once she ate grass and drank a gallon of water she was okay.”But not all encounters end well. “I would have insisted the vet had seen the dog,” a woman told Hilary. “As my friend’s dog died from this.”

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