British vets have issued a warning over buying or adopting pets from abroad, as these 'trojan dogs' can carry life-threatening diseases to the UK.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has urged political parties standing in the General Election to make mandatory health checks for dogs brought into the country part of their manifestos.

Recent figures released from Defra demonstrate that imports of dogs to Great Britain through the Pet Travel Scheme doubled to 307,357 dogs in 2018, from 152,075 in 2013.

This trend is somewhat fanned by celebrities, including Orlando Bloom, who rescued his pet, Sidi, from the streets of Morocco. Presenter and tennis player Sue Barker also adopted her dog from Romania. Comedian Ricky Gervais is also a patron of charity which imports rescue dogs to the UK from Romania. There is no suggestion any of these people have brought diseased dogs into the country.

One disease the vets are particularly worried about is Leishmaniasis, a parasite found in the Mediterranean that causes an often fatal disease in dogs. Others include heartworm, which is incredibly difficult to treat and spread by mosquitos, and hepatozoonosis, which is transmitted by ticks and often fatal as it is difficult to detect.

President of the BVA, Daniella Dos Santos, warned that though it is popular to take puppies home from foreign countries including Greece and Romania, it is safer to adopt pets from within the UK.