Vet warns of increasingly common 'dart plant' making dogs ill as councils grow verges

• Tap above to watch video report by Rags Martel

A plant which acts like a dart is making an increasing number of dogs ill as verges are left uncut to help protect eco-systems.

Vets warn the problem is getting worse and urge dog owners to be extra cautious when exercising their pets outside.

Foxtail barley grass is more common as councils focus on rewilding and protecting nature but it comes with an unwelcome side effect which is also hazardous to foxes and badgers.

To the human eye foxtail can look harmless but for animals it can act like a splinter or a spike which plunges into the skin and be highly painful.

"It's pervasive and hard to get away from unless you walk your dogs on a lead on a pavement - I know three or four people who had to go to the vet in the past month," said dog walker Kelly Graham.

"It's an expensive procedure to remove them and they can be really dangerous - they can kill dogs.

"The worst case I know of is one that went into a dog's eye and they nearly went blind," she added.

Foxtail is shaped like an arrow head and once it gets into the dog's skin it is very hard to get out and causes infection.

At Pickles Vets in Fulham it's a familiar problem, Clinical Director Rory Cowlam said: "Once that grass is inside the body it stimulates what's called a foreign body response so the body throws lots of white blood cells and inflammation at the area and often it will abscess. Sometimes the grass can even perforate the ear drum.

"Rewilding is great for wildlife and ecosystems but it means the grass seeds and there are lots more of those now in our verges."

The advice for dog owners is pause for thought after a walk and check for foxtail grass.

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