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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Jilly Beattie

Antrim council issues fresh 'stay out' warning to dog walkers and water users at Lough Neagh

A council has issued a fresh warning to walkers and swimmers to stay away from the water at Antrim's Loughshore as mystery continues over the cause of the deaths of two dogs in the area last month.

Testing of the water by the local council and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency have proved inconclusive for toxins.

And the results of post mortems on the pets who died within hours of each other have not yet been released to either authority.

Read more: Antrim dog sonny found alive just as hope was fading

Kaylee Agnew's pup Winnie, a Golden Retriever, and Milo, a Spaniel, both died within an hour of becoming sick in early May. Both had been young and healthy dogs, and both suffered the sudden onset of seizures following separate walks with different families in the same area.

Worried families, dog lovers and animal charities issued urgent warnings to the public about the issue, and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough followed suit a week after the dogs died, telling water users and pet owners to stay out of Lough Neagh.

Today, five weeks on they have issued a fresh warned the public to stay out of the water and for dog walkers to exercise caution because they still have no answers about the sudden deaths of the pups in May that were followed by other reports of pets beocming ill after being in the area..

A spokeswoman for the council told DogsLive : "No cause of death has yet been identified and the timeframe for toxicology results is yet to be confirmed due to the complexity of the tests being carried out.

Kaylee and Padar brought Winnie into the their lives to grow up with Miya Rose (Kaylee Agnew)

"In the absence of any conclusive information regarding this investigation, we would continue to advise dog owners to exercise caution and keep their dogs on a lead at all times in this area.

"We would reiterate our advice that all water sports activity, including open water swimming, cease until further notice is given.

"Council staff are at Antrim Loughshore to answer questions from the public. The results of the water samples collected by the Council have not identified any cause for concern.

"NIEA also collected additional water samples to look for the presence of blue green algae and none were found.

"In addition, the water sample taken by NIEA for a broad sweep of organic substances detected nothing of significance, no further water tests are planned at this stage.

"The substances that were identified are commonly found at low levels in rivers and lakes across Northern Ireland."

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Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council are working to get conclusions ahead of the expected summer season (Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council)
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