BELTON, Texas — Chalk Ridge Falls Park in Belton is temporarily closed due to possible presence of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae.
Lauren Birdwell, a Temple woman's fun day at the park with her dog quickly took a turn for the worst.
"Super devastating. Completely heartbroken. Did not expect that to happen," Birdwell said.
On Saturday, Birdwell headed out to Chalk Ridge Falls Park with her 8-year-old pup Autumn, her friend, and her friend's dogs.
The dogs played at Stillhouse Hollow lake for about an hour, that's when Birdwell said autumn lost feeling in her legs and fell to the ground. She rushed her pet to the vet where they tried to stabilize her but unfortunately Autumn had to be put down.
"At that point there wasn't much more that they could do," Birdwell said.
The vet told Birdwell the cause was most likely blue-green algae.
"There was no public notice or public awareness. It seemed to be just word of mouth. So it was very frustrating for us and really disheartening that this probably could have been avoided if we had more awareness," Birdwell said.
For now the park is temporarily closed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is sampling and testing the water. Jeffrey Phillips the interim manager at Stillhouse Hollow lake said they're now making some changes.
"What we're gonna do is provide signage to inform the public. Hopefully we'll increase public awareness to prevent these events from occurring again," Phillips said.
Birdwell wishes those signs could have saved her beloved pet, but now she's using her loss to spread awareness so nothing like this happens to any other pet owners.
"Honestly I would just say be more safe than sorry and avoid the water just during the hot months regardless of whether or not you think it's safe because you just never know," Birdwell said.
In a news release Monday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stated that as a simple rule, they recommend that people and pets stay out of water that has visible colored surface films, scum layers and/or algae mats. It is also best to avoid stagnant areas where there’s little to no water movement and where the water has a bad odor.
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