A DOG-walker feared for his four-legged friend when he discovered fragments of a home-made snare at a Flintshire beauty hotspot.

The Mold owner, who wished to remain anonymous, is urging other walkers to look out for barbed wire, and other parts of hand-made devices, at Loggerheads Country Park after he made a shocking discovery himself.

He said: "My puppy almost got caught in a barbed wire snare in Loggerheads last week. It was on the path with blood on it. It looked like it had been previously attached to something but got torn off by whichever poor animal got wrapped up in it.

"The puppy doesn't know any better so he sees something shiny in the path and gets excited and thinks it's a toy.

"Luckily he was wearing a harness with a handle so I managed to grab him before he got tangled up in it.

"Shortly afterwards we left the path to take pup for a paddle and a bit further down by the river there’s bits of leg - though that looks like sheep's leg and may be unrelated."

The owner said it was a "close one" and said if he wasn't extra vigilant on the day, the outcome could have been horrendous for puppy Teddy, a rare Husky-Schnauzer cross breed.

He added that as Loggerheads is popular with children and dogs, extra care is needed to scout dangerous items such as the snare.

He said: "Loggerheads had plenty of walkers and the largest pack of greyhounds I've ever seen were being walked by a local rescue home.

"They were warned and shown the snare. We then deconstructed it and disposed of it so it could do no more harm."

The discovery was then reported to the park Rangers, who confirmed that it was part of a homemade snare.

But Teddy' owner said: "The fact is there's little to nothing the rangers can do, save keeping an eye out for them," and that it's down to individuals to take extra care even in areas where snares would be "least expected."