DOG KILLED BY TOXIC LAKE ALGAE
BELOVED BULLDOG DIED IN HOURS
A NEWCASTLE dog owner has been left devastated after his beloved family pet died from ingesting toxic blue green algae during a trip to the Lake District.
Lemington dad Alan Brown has issued a heartbreaking warning to other owners after his bulldog Rolex was poisoned as he paddled on the shores of Windermere.
The 57-year-old let Rolex cool off in the water during the hot weather last Sunday.
But just half an hour later, Rolex started to breathe differently, began violently vomiting, and within hours suffered a cardiac arrest.
The much loved pet spent a night fighting for his life on a ventilator, but his condition deteriorated and a vet had to put him to sleep.
Alan has been left heartbroken by Rolex’s death, and is calling for more signs in the Lakes warning pet owners of the dangers of toxic algae.
The day out which ended in tragedy happened as Alan and his wife went to Windermere for a Mastercraft boats event.
They took Rolex to White Cross Holiday Park and sat by the shores of Windermere.
Alan said: “We’d arranged to meet my son at 1pm but when we went up he was on one of the boats.
“We sat and watched people going back and forth and people were stopping to look at Rolex and say ‘isn’t he lovely,’ like they always did wherever I took him. He started getting a little bit hot so I let him have a little paddle in the water – what a mistake that was.
“He didn’t go in above his ankles, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, but after about half an hour he started breathing differently.
“We took him back to the lodge but he was ill and vomiting, so we rushed him home from the Lake District to get him back in his own environment.
“We’d just got him out of the car and he had a cardiac arrest in the kitchen.”
Alan resuscitated Rolex and took him to the emergency vets, where he spent a night on a ventilator.
But in the morning the vet rang Alan to say he had deteriorated and there was nothing more they could do.
Alan said: “I asked what on earth had happened, and they said they had done tests and in his blood he had a thing called blue green algae.
“He’s inhaled it through his nose and it’s gone down through his throat into his body and infected his kidneys and lungs.”
Rolex, whose father was a Crufts winner, was just 12 weeks old when he came to live with the family five-and-a-half years ago.
Alan said: “It took me six months to find him, I searched the country for him and when I got him I was as happy as Larry.
“He wasn’t just a pet, he was one of the family.”
Since Rolex’s death, Alan has been in touch with the holiday park about signs, which he says are insufficient.
“I was upset with myself for letting him go in the water so I drove back to the Lake District and found two signs – one was on a fence and it was the wrong way round, one was an A4 piece of paper wrapped around a tree. There should be big signs everywhere.”
He added: “I hope by telling this story I can save other dogs.”
A spokesperson for White Cross Bay holiday park said: “Our thoughts are with the Brown family after this very unfortunate incident. Blue and green algae can appear on the lake at certain times of the year, and we have placed numerous signs, both permanent and temporary, at the marina advising that it can be harmful to pets, as well as asking dog owners to keep their pets on a lead at all times.”