SLUGS and snails and puppy dogs tails, goes the rhyme, but this combination could cause misery to hundreds of dogs thanks to a parasite that lives on the slimy pests.

Southend-based vet Gareth Richardson is warning owners about the dangers of their pets accidentally or deliberately eating slugs and snails, as they can carry lungworm infection which can lead to a potentially fatal disease called angiostrongylosis.

The disease has a wide range of symptoms and can be hard to diagnose. Because the UK’s climate is ideal for slugs and snails to thrive in, the condition is becoming more common. Mr Richardson, who works at Medivet Southend, in Eastwoodbury Lane, said: “It is something that is more of an emerging condition.

We are seeing more of it than we used to. It has become a bigger problem in the South East because the climate here is a bit warmer which helps the slugs and snails do well.”

He added there are many possible symptoms of the disease including coughing, reluctance to go on walks, depression, weight loss, fits, vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness and paralysis, or bleeding.