Dog owners warned about boom in ticks on Australia’s east coast after last year’s hot and wet summer

Beans, a Finnish lapphund, had no fewer than 39 ticks removed while on a holiday at Culburra beach on the New South Wales coast, her owner said Photograph: Supplied

Dog owners have been warned there is a tick boom unfolding along Australia’s east coast, with some experts predicting an unusually bad season for furry friends.

Veterinary scientist and parasitologist Peter Irwin, an emeritus professor at Murdoch University, said the severity of a tick season was largely determined by the preceding weather, and last summer had been hot and wet along the east coast”.