A dog trainer in Leith has urged locals to be on the lookout after his dog fell ill after playing with a tennis ball she found in a park.
Edinburgh local András Marosi explained how his dog Alba picked up the tennis ball in Meadowfield Park, only to ingest an "adhesive powder" hidden inside.
Andras, who lives in Leith, had to rush Alba to the vet, initially fearing she had been deliberately poisoned as she was covered in a sticky white paste.
But the vet explained to the dog trainer, who runs ND-GO pet services, that Alba was actually made sick by the adhesive powder on some tennis balls which reacts with water.
Rather than being filled with gas, the tennis balls are filled with the powder which is dangerous for dogs.
Warning fellow dog owners to watch out, Andras said on Facebook: "Alba found this tennis ball on the walk at Meadowfield Park. After playing with it, her muzzle and her paw was covered with that white stuff that I couldn’t get off.
"It smells like paint but it’s sticky like an adhesive. I drove her to the vet straight away as I thought someone placed it on purpose. So many similar cases were reported recently...
"It turned out some of these balls are actually filled with some kind of white powder instead of gas.
"I’ve never come across with this before. When this powder contacts water it turns into this sticky paste."
He added that, thankfully, Alba was ok: "The vet milked her tummy out so she’s fine."
