A QUICK-THINKING teenager saved his dog's life after it was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Jack Cummings' dog, Maggie, was bitten by an adder while walking on Silchester Common.

Just two weeks earlier, a retrie-ver died within 24 hours of being bitten by a snake in Pamber Forest.

Fortunately, Jack, from The Butts, Silchester, was able to alert family and neighbours when he found Maggie with a swollen face after he got in from school.

Jack, 13, said: "I came in and the dog was just lying on the floor crying and yelping. She couldn't lift her head because it was so big.

"I felt really terrible and horrified. Her mouth was literally double the size it's meant to be."

He immediately phoned his mum and his neighbours and, as a result, Maggie was taken straight to the vet, where she received medical care for five days.

Maggie, a five-year-old black and white Staffordshire bull terrier, had been bitten on the face as her owner Monica Cummings took her for a walk in her lunch break.

Because the swelling takes at least half and hour to show up, Monica didn't realise anything was wrong and Maggie was left on her own for four hours until Jack returned from school.

Monica said: "She looked like a completely different dog and the two younger children were a bit frightened by it and wouldn't go near her.

"I think it was touch-and-go as to whether she would live. The vet didn't tell me until later that another dog had died from a snake bite just a few weeks earlier. The vets were brilliant with her though.

"I am very proud of the way Jack acted because he really did save the dog's life by getting me home so quickly."

Ken Dolan, from Gough and Partners veterinary surgery, Tadley, said: "We probably treat snake bites six or seven times a year.

"Problems occur not because of the venom but because of the shock. The dogs need immediate attention and, if left untreated, there is a chance it can be fatal."