Local pet owners are being warned to keep dogs away from lakes and standing water during the hot weather.
The call follows the death of a number of animals across the country including in the Shannonside Region due to poisoning from stagnant water.
The current hot and dry weather has seen algae blooms develop in large bodies of slow or standing water such as lakes or calm rivers across the region.
Dogs who swim in the water ingest the algae which is generally fatal to the animal, resulting in drooling, frothing at their mouth and seizures.
Longford man John lost his family dog, Koda, to the poisoning yesterday on Lough Ree.
Speaking to the Joe Finnegan Show this morning, John warned that algae blooms may not always be visible in stagnant water:
'Well I seen it down through the years, I lived close to the lake, it would become like pea soup it would be that concentrated.
It would be so viscous that you could put a stick in it and it would just drop of the stick, it would be that sick.
It hadn't reached that level at the moment but I know and I guarantee I know that's what happened. I've been looking it up since and all the indications and symptoms and everything he developed was that, I have no doubt about it.'
