Pet owner’s warning after her puppy ‘dies from eating toxic oil berg’ that washed up on a beach

A devastated pet owner has described how her dog died after swallowing a toxic oil berg that washed up on a beach. 

Three-year-old Nellie became seriously ill and fell into a coma after eating the mysterious black substance on a beach in Newgale, Pembrokeshire.

Her owner, Lucy Beswick, 51, said she tried to pry the small object from the mouth of the Maltese Poodle and Jack Russell cross but she had already swallowed some.

Hours later Nellie became extremely lethargic before suffering a seizure and later died.

Toxic palm oil bergs are believed to wash up on beaches when tankers clean out their ballast tanks and remove any waste products. 

Lucy Beswick, 51, (right) described how her three-year-old dog Nellie (pictured) died after consuming a toxic oil berg at a beach 

Nellie became seriously ill and fell into a coma after eating the mysterious black substance 

Toxic palm oil bergs are believed to wash up on beaches when tankers clean out their ballast tanks and remove any waste products

Recruitment consultant Ms Beswick has warned other dog owners to beware of the palm oil dangers after visiting the beach.

‘We were walking together on the shoreline and I noticed she was very attracted to this round object which looked like a crustacean,’ she said. 

‘It was dark in colour, like a fifty pence piece-size and there were about three or four of them together. She smelt it and decided to eat one.

‘I was trying to prize it out of her mouth, because I didn’t know what it was.’

Ms Beswick, of Herefordshire, said Nellie’s condition got worse over the coming days and she was put on drip.

‘She was my everything. She was a lockdown puppy after we lost a previous dog to bladder cancer. When this happened, it had a huge impact on us.’

Ms Beswick set up a petition calling on the practice to be banned which around 50,000 people have signed.

‘What harm is this doing in our oceans? I think it’s disgraceful. It’s harming sea life and land animals,’ she said.

Pembrokeshire council warned people visiting beaches to ‘be vigilant to the potential of palm oil washing ashore’.

MailOnline has contacted Pembrokeshire council and the RSPCA for comment.