Algae Fatal To Dogs Found In Minnesota: Health Officials

MINNESOTA — Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency is urging residents to report sightings of harmful — and potentially fatal to dogs — blue-green algae blooms. A warning from the Minnesota PCA came in July:

The MPCA recently received a report of a suspected dog death as a result of exposure to blue-green algae. Although the Department of Health has not confirmed the cause of death, if you are a dog owner, it better to be safe than sorry. Be sure to check water conditions when your dog is playing near lakes or slow-flowing streams.

Devastating reports of dogs dying just hours after swimming in water containing the toxic algae have surfaced in several states. On Saturday, Georgia resident Morgan Fleming took to Facebook to warn other dog owners after she and her husband took their border collie, Arya, to swim in a nearby pond to beat the summer heat.

"About 30 minutes later on the drive home, we noticed her making weird noises and she threw up and pooped in the car," Fleming wrote in a post that has since been shared thousands of times (Warning: post contains photos some may find disturbing). "We called our vet on the drive and they suggested we take her in. By this point our girl couldn't even stand... They told us she was in critical condition so we took her to the ER. By the time we got there, she was brain dead."

In North Carolina, two women took their three dogs — two West Highland terriers and a goldendoodle mix — on a doggie playdate to swim in a pond and play in the mud. Within minutes of leaving the pond, one of the dogs began having a seizure, owner Melissa Martin said on Facebook. By the end of the night, all three dogs were dead, the victims of blue-green algae poisoning, according to the dog owners.

"At 12:08 AM, our dogs crossed the rainbow bridge together," Martin wrote. "They contracted blue green algae poisoning and there was nothing they could do. We are gutted. I wish I could do today over. "

Several dogs have also reportedly died after swimming in an Austin, Texas lake believed to have been contaminated with toxic blue-green algae.

What is toxic blue-green algae, and why is it bad?

According to the PCA, animals become ill when they ingest the toxins from the algae, so preventing them from drinking affected water or licking toxins from their coat is key to preventing illness.

Most blue-green algae are not toxic, but there is no way to identify if a particular bloom contains toxins that are harmful to people or animals.

If you spot a blue-green algae bloom

• Do not swim or wade through algal scums
• Do not boat, water ski, jet ski, or fish where algal scum is present
• Always shower off with soap and water after swimming in a lake, river, or pond
• Do not let dogs drink, eat, or lick algal scum off their fur
• Wash your dog off with clean water immediately if your dog swims or wades in water during an algal bloom.

Shannon Antinori, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.