Huck, a springer spaniel, had no qualms about wolfing down the treat that had been lovingly created by his owner Luke Vandore-Mackay.

To add insult to injury, he also smashed the expensive plate it was presented on.

Luke, a chef from Dalwood, Devon, took to Twitter to reveal the exploits of his naughty pet and declared that ‘Christmas is cancelled.’

He wrote: ‘You know how I smoked, then cooked overnight in cider, my 3.5kg gammon?

‘Then glazed it with a cider, mustard and clove syrup – basting it every 10 minutes until it was burnished rich mahogany?

‘Well the f****** dog has just eaten ¾ of it.

‘So we’ve got no glazed ham and any minute now the dog is going to puke and s*** all over the kitchen.

‘He also smashed the stupid expensive plate it was on.

‘Christmas is cancelled. Stupid dog.’

Luke then went on to say he was genuinely concerned for Huck’s health after the mammoth theft.

He added: ‘I am sleeping in the kitchen with the stupid dog in case he dies from too much ham because I love that thieving imbecile.’

He then provided an update to his followers about Huck, who was a bit inconvenienced by his adventure.

Luke continued: ‘The dog spent the night farting on me and needing urgent toilet breaks in the rain but seems essentially fine and not dead of too much ham.’

He went on to post a video of a fully-recovered Huck enjoying a forest walk and he appeared entirely unrepentant over his theft.