Vets in Cornwall say they have been seeing a dog every day that has been poisoned by palm oil washed up on beaches.

Although reports of the white substance, which on beaches started appearing last October after one dog died from eating it on a Cornwall beach, have yet to be seen here in South Central Cornwall, dog owners are urged to be vigilant, especially when walking their dogs on the beach as the substance has been seen as far away as south Devon.

Bad weather has washed in large boulder-like clumps of palm oil at Perranporth on the North Coast, so it is urged to keep your dogs away from the white waxy substance, which smells like diesel.

A vet from St Clements Vets in Truro, Chris Gardner, said: “We have been lucky we haven’t lost any dogs through them eating palm oil. We were seeing dogs on a daily basis two weeks ago. Then it went quiet in the storms, probably because there weren’t so many people on the beaches., but we had a dog brought in yesterday from Porthtowan. It is still an ongoing issue.”

Reports of the washed-up substance has recently come from Porthtowan and Gwithian.

He added, “I have seen 2ft-diameter lumps, so if you smell it on your dog, get advice immediately.”

Vets treat poisoned dogs by making them vomit and giving them liquid charcoal to absorb the substance. The substance was analysed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the sources of this Palm oil, which has a wide variety of uses is found in food, soaps and shampoos, and biofuels, has yet to be identified.