2 More Minn. Dogs Dead From Blue-Green Algae
Lisa Kiava
Reporting
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(WCCO) At least three dogs in Minnesota have died this summer after swimming in lakes filled with a certain type of algae. Low water levels and heat are making this one of the worst years ever for toxic blue-green algae.
Back in June, a family's dog died after a swim in Fountain Lake in Wright County. Now concerns over the toxic algae are spreading.
"Green brown sludge that just forms from our shore probably to the end of our dock," said Sherry Foster of Rice County.
Foster learned this gunk is more than any eyesore, it can be deadly.
"It was extremely sad and heartbreaking," she said.
Two dogs died after swimming in Circle Lake near Faribault, Minn. Foster's husband is a veterinarian and treated one of them.
"He was experiencing vomiting, lethargy," said Foster.
The first dog that died was a Golden Retriever puppy, the other was a young hunting dog. Both died within 24 hours of swimming in Circle Lake.
Nearly all of Minnesota's lakes have blue-green algae but only some become toxic. The bad algae can come and go.
"It can be there one day and then because of with wind, because of a rain storm it can be gone the next day," said Shannon Lotthammer of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Toxic blue-green algae can make people sick too, even if they don't touch it. The MPCA is monitoring the air quality near Fountain Lake, which is near St. Cloud, to see whether the algae are releasing a gas as it decomposes. That gas can cause nausea in some people.
Foster is keeping her kids and two dogs away from it and she's also warning neighbors.
"If the dog is in the water, when they come out wash them off so they're not self-cleaning, licking the algae off of them," said Foster.
To help prevent toxic blue-green algae, use fertilizer that does not contain phosphorous.
It's impossible to know which blue-green algae is toxic, so experts recommend that people and pets should be cleaned well if they came into contact with it.
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