A SERIOUS infection that flared after an Okehampton rugby player was injured during a game has prompted the club to urge dog owners not to exercise their pets on the pitch. Club officials are worried that dog faeces may have been to blame for the infection contracted by team member Evan Rees. Evan, 40, was playing outside half for Okehampton in a game against Devonport Services last month when he was injured. He suffered a nasty gash to his leg following a fall on a stone just beneath the surface of the main pitch. The wound required urgent medical attention and 20 stitches ? but worse was to come. Evan said: ?I developed a very bad infection which could have led to nasty complications; at its worst I could have had to have the leg amputated.? If the medical team involved in his treatment had been unable to determine the cause of the infection and treat it accordingly, Evan fears the infection could have spread further. He said it was a ?frightening time for a while? as he worried that he could have lost his leg playing the sport he loves. ?I was in hospital in Exeter with my leg up and on an IV drip. ?I begged and pleaded to be let out for Christmas, but even then I was still on antibiotics and on crutches for several weeks. ?I have being playing rugby since the age of seven, but this is by far the most potentially dangerous injury I have ever had. ?You do see people up on the field walking their dogs, it is almost impossible to stop them doing that but it would be nice to think dog owners were more aware of the dangers.? Evan, originally from Swansea, but who moved to Okehampton three years ago, said he had still not been able to return to his work with Initial Textile Services and was unlikely to be able to take to the rugby field for a further three or four months at the earliest. Despite Okehampton Rugby Club officials frequently requesting owners not to walk their dogs on the Oaklands grounds, they say dog faeces are regularly deposited on the pitch and surrounding grassed areas. Okehampton Rugby Club committee member Carol Barkwell said players accepted that injuries were part and parcel of playing the sport, but it was unacceptable that their health should be endangered because of the irresponsible behaviour of dog owners. She said the club was therefore issuing a plea to people: ?Please do not use the grounds to exercise your dogs. We are not by any means ?anti-dog? , but simply want to limit avoidable risks to all.? Consultant for Communicable Disease Control for North and East Devon Dr Mark Kealy said one of the strains of bacteria found in the wound suggested faecal contamination. ?It seems that it was a significant element in this unfortunate wound infection,? he said. ?Dog faeces are definitely a health hazard especially to young children because they ingest soil which could be contaminated.? Ingesting dog faeces can cause toxocariasis, an infection which can lead to blindness or epilepsy.