A veterinary nurse has shared shocking photos after a plant left her friend's dog covered in "painful" plant burs.
The plant is called pirri-pirri-bur and originated from Australia and New Zealand, but reached the UK in the 1930s and has spread widely since then.
It is available to buy from garden centres and can be found throughout the UK, thriving in dune, wet slopes, grassy areas and woods.
These flowers turn red in late spring and ripen into barbed fruits, called burs which then turn brown during the summer.
The invasive plant leads to the loss of other native plants where it grows and can also affect dogs as the burs hook onto their fur.
It can be a nightmare for owners to remove burs from their dogs, which are sometimes so badly matted the dog needs to be shaved.
In a post on Facebook one vet nurse, Rachel Bean, has highlighted an extreme case that left a spaniel, named Charlie needing an emergency trip to the vet.
She said: "A friend's dog had an encounter with a plant called pirri-pirri-bur from New Zealand.
"It seems to be very prevalent in some areas of UK too, lots written about it in Northumberland, Farne Islands etc, but no doubt elsewhere too.
"Charlie had to have a trip to the vets to have sedation and all the painful burrs removed by shaving him."
Another owner shared a photo of her own dog, which had been left with the burs all over its body. She said: "My smudge did the same last week, took my mum and I two hours to get them all out!"
Elsewhere, another said: "What a horrible thing to happen. Will keep my eyes open for this plant!"
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