A heartbroken mother has revealed that her family’s nine-month-old pup Harley died as a consequence of drinking water from Lough Neagh on the Antrim shoreline.
It is similar to the deaths of family pets Winnie and Milo, who also died within an hour of being walked in the same area by their families in May of last year. It is believed two other dogs have also died this year as a result, Belfast Live reported.
Claire Gillespie, who owned Harley, is demanding that environment chiefs to again look into the area after tests last year found no toxins in the water.
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She said: “It’s not just a coincidence – there has to be something there.”
Claire told Belfast Live that her Border Collie, Harley, “was a perfectly healthy dog who had all her vaccinations'' but collapsed on the roadside when walking home.
The Antrim resident says her son Conor, 25, has been left “traumatised” by what happened as after taking Harley out for her walk last Friday.
She stressed: “He came off night duty and walked her and he feels responsible but he couldn’t have known there was anything in the water. I saw the posts and then I heard the water was clear.”
Harley drunk from the Loughshore around 9am on May 19 and fell to the ground just 30 minutes later.
“She went downhill quickly,” she recalled.. “Conor told me she turned and looked at him and he thought there was something wrong with her eye but he thought she might have been stung.
“He kept walking as she was still pulling and they hit the roundabout at the bottom of the Dublin Road about 9.20am. At that point he noticed her leg starting to wobble and then she just sat down and rolled over on to her side," Claire added.
Her son waved down a couple and managed to contact the vet, however, Harley passed away by 9.50am.
“It was so quick - she didn’t have a chance. Whatever it was, it just took her.”
Claire stated that her daughter Callie, 15, who spent hours teaching Harley tricks and her partner Ian are also devastated by her death.
“It’s horrific. I would like Harley’s death not to be in vain,” she added.
A petition has been launched calling for DAERA to investigate.
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