A family from North Carolina is mourning the loss of their three dogs who passed away after swimming in a pond.
Three dog siblings, Harpo, Izzy and Abby were swimming happily in a pond in North Carolina. They frolicked and splashed with their owners, Denise Mintz and Melissa Martin.
However, their playful evening was short-lived when Abby started having a seizure after they left, according to WTKR.
Martin took Abby to the vet and helplessly watched as the pooch’s health started to quickly deteriorate. Izzy and Harpo soon experienced the same symptoms as Abby.
After midnight, all three dogs passed away.
Heartbroken owners soon learned that their pets had been exposed to poisoning from blue-green algae that had been in the water.
“We are gutted. I wish I could do today over,” Martin wrote. “I would give anything to have one more day with them.”
Blue-green algae (a type of bacteria and not algae at all) are not always visible. However, exposure to it is usually fatal for pets as the bacteria overwhelm their liver, causing the organ to shut down. The bacteria can kill a dog within 15 minutes of exposure, according to Blue Cross for Pets.
Even though Mintz and Martin know they can no longer change the past, they want to warn other pet owners.
“Our dogs were everything,” Martin said to WECT. “We had two Westies, they were both therapy certified. And then we had Harpo — he was going to be seven this year. He did a lot of stuff in the community.
“I mean we just took them here last night and let them play and it ended up in all three of them dying because of something called blue green algae that we’ve never even heard of.”
Martin added: “People need to know about this. Like I said, if we had any clue this was ever a thing we would have never come. We had no idea. And once we got to the emergency vet last night they also weren’t sure.
“They kind of thought maybe that’s what it was but we had to spend time on the phone with poison control. We ended up losing all three of them within just a few hours.”
Martin continued: “We are now on a mission to put signs at every body of water that can have this deadly bacteria.”
“I will not stop until I make positive change,” Martin expressed. “I will not lose my dogs for nothing.”
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