A DOG owner who pulled a “dirty needle” from her pet’s paw on Glasgow Green has said she could find “nowhere safe” to dispose of the sharp in the city.

Mandy Short’s dog Stella was playing catch in the grass in the park when a needle became stuck in her back paw.

She immediately pulled it out and called her vet for advice, who said to clean the paw and monitor Stella in case she fell ill.

The Dennistoun resident still has the needle at home in a plastic box, as she has been unable to find somewhere to dispose of it safely since the incident, which took place in March.

She took it to a pharmacy who said they could not take needles, and then to the ­Glasgow Royal Infirmary who also turned her away.

READ MORE: Care home worker ignored vulnerable man's plea to stop 'play fighting' 

“They said they weren’t allowed to dispose of any needles. They don’t have a licence or something, they said I could go up on one of the wards and see if they’ve got anything, I thought ‘what!’,” she said.

Mandy added she didn’t blame drug users for discarding drug litter if there was no safe for them to dispose the items.

“I was a bit annoyed about that because I thought no wonder they are dropping needles if there is actually nowhere safe to dispose,” she said.

Last week, during a community council meeting in Calton, Paul Brannan from Glasgow City Council’s Estates Management said some of the flower beds in the park had been stripped after a number of public reports of needles being dropped in them.

A spokesman for the council said: “A small number of incidents involving drug-related litter discarded within bushes on Glasgow Green have been identified by members of the public and staff over the past six months.

READ MORE: Alesha McPhail killer allowed to appeal sentence 

“These used syringes were generally removed by properly trained staff within an hour of receiving the report.

“To reduce the risk to the public and to deter people from discarding drug paraphernalia in this way, bushes have been removed at two locations within the park. The measure has been effective with no further evidence of drug-related litter being found at these locations.”

They added they understand the upset caused to the public, as well as the risk to public safety from “potential infection” or “needle prick injury”.

When asked by the Evening Times if this incident was isolated to Glasgow Green, the spokesman said they couldn’t say if there had not been reports of similar incidents.

READ MORE TOP GLASGOW STORIES 

“I couldn’t say that there’s not been, unfortunately it’s something that is a fact that people discard drug paraphernalia in various places.”