The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is urging owners to keep their dogs out of freshwater bodies during August and September, after a Cocker Spaniel died from suspected blue-green algae poisoning following a dip in a Hampshire lake.
Warmer weather provides the ideal conditions for toxic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), which appear as green or greenish-brown scum on the surface of water, and can prove fatal to pets, birds, and livestock if ingested, even in small quantities.