Title: WARNING - Blue Green algae
freddie - July 15, 2006 07:55 PM (GMT)
I was talking to a friend today who has sadly just lost his 2 1/2 year old collie, Gemma.
It was a boiling hot day and they decided to let the dogs go for a swim in a lake. They didn't notice anything unusual about the lake but shortly afterwards Gemma and one of their other dogs became ill. By the time they made it to the vets 15 miles away Gemma was already dead. They were able to save their lurcher but they are not sure if she will suffer further complications.
The dogs had drunk water which was polluted with blue green algae and this is highly toxic. There is pretty much nothing which can be done to cure this. The owners have said they were shocked by how quickly Gemma died.
BE WARNED.
colliesrus - July 15, 2006 10:24 PM (GMT)
ive heard about this before, bout time something was done, like warning signs up or something. do fish survive in it? scary stuff. run free gemma. sad
molly - July 16, 2006 06:54 AM (GMT)
How awful, have heard about this stuff before
there is a lake near me that has had Blue-Green algae
in and a couple of dogs died after swimming in the lake.
Blue-green algae BorderCollieLvr - July 16, 2006 04:29 PM (GMT)
XxsamxX - July 16, 2006 06:23 PM (GMT)
Tyler's Mum - September 7, 2006 09:27 AM (GMT)
Oh crikey!
There's blue-green algeae in just about all the lakes up here - made worse by the fact we can't water ski on them anymore, which oxygenated the water and made it harder for the algae to spread.
My dogs swim daily! Not always in the lakes, but maybe twice a week... then the rest in the rivers and esturary.
Hmmmmm. Guess we have been lucky, or they're strong as oxes!
Sleep well Gemma. x
ajshep1984 - May 31, 2008 01:01 AM (GMT)
The pond at the park we usually go to had this problem last summer, they fenced it all of and opened it up in the winter. It's not been closed off this year and I presume it's safe again, all my dogs have been drinking out of it. Might keep them away from it though now, didn't realise it was that harmful.
Brandon M - May 31, 2008 04:05 AM (GMT)
You can get test kits and test if algae blooms are the toxic cyanobacteria. Thats what I've done the last few years when I see algae blooms at the lake or in ponds. After the first hard frost it's killed and safe. It can, of course, come back. So better safe then sorry. I know someone who's BC died an hour after swimming in a lake with the blue-green algae :(
