A woman who spent £6k on an operation for her dog blames the council for not clearing grass properly - and wants her money back.<br /><br />Michele Wingfield, 60, took pet pooch Masie, nine, to the vets when she couldn't stop sneezing.<br /><br />A scan found grass seeds in the Westie's nose - which needed a £5k operation to remove.<br /><br />More seeds were then found in Masie's paw two weeks later, which cost a further £800.<br /><br />Michele, a carer from Hartley, Kent, now wants Kent County Council to pay her back - claiming workers didn't clear mounds of cut grass properly.<br /><br />She said: "Masie started sneezing on our walk and it just got worse and worse.<br /><br />“We had tried to avoid the cut grass but there were cars in the road and it was all over the pavement.<br /><br />"Wildlife like foxes can’t avoid the cut grass - and no one's going to pay for the vet for them.<br /><br />"The council cuts the grass five times a year. They could do it before the seed heads form but they don't, and they could clear up.<br /><br />"Leaving grass with seed darts on lying around just makes the hazard greater by generating more grass.<br /><br />"I think it's negligent."<br /><br />Michele and daughter Callie Wingfield, 38, took Masie to the vets on July 17.<br /><br />They say they had taken her for a walk the day before, where they had encountered piles of cut grass.<br /><br />Vets said Masie - who is Callie's support dog - needed surgery and she was taken to the Ralph, a specialist centre in Marlow, Bucks., on July 20.<br /><br />And she then needed a further op on her paw, after Michelle spotted her nibbling away.<br /><br />Michele said: "Masie was sneezing so much she couldn't sleep.<br /><br />"It was awful watching her - she was extremely distressed and we were terrified.<br /><br />"We just want to raise awareness because grass seed is really dangerous and we didn't know about it before this happened.<br /><br />"Once it gets in it can move through the body and even get in to the brain, and toxins can get into the blood.<br /><br />“That would have happened to Masie if we hadn’t had it removed.<br /><br />"Our vets are amazing but treatment is so expensive.<br /><br />"We're petrified about taking the dogs out now because we can't afford the risk of something like this happening again."<br /><br />Michele and Callie have submitted a claim for £6,000 to Kent County Council.<br /><br />A council spokesperson said: "We have received a claim for compensation by a member of the public and are investigating this.<br /><br />“Details of how we maintain grass on highway land is published on our website."
