One Utah dog owner is mourning six of his beloved pets after a series of contamination deaths.
The Lee Kay Wildlife Conservation Training Area has been closed, with authorities working to contain a toxic substance believed to be the cause of the animal deaths at the pet facilities in the park, according to KSL-TV.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources sealed off the area in Salt Lake County with a sign that warned of “possible contamination” in late May.
The animals that died were among a group of 13 dogs brought to the area by a single pet owner, according to KTVX.
One of the dogs began vomiting days after they were allowed to roam around a pond.
That dog was ultimately euthanized by a veterinarian. Five more would die of cardiac arrest or be euthanized.
Another dog owner, Grady Southwick, says that her pet Piper became gravely sick after a visit to the same pond, according to KSL.
“She started groaning, moaning, making kind of a, you know — you could tell something was wrong.”
“She wouldn’t stand still. She wouldn’t lay down … she wouldn’t eat. She went outside and threw up a few times.”
A subsequent investigation by Utah DWR and the Utah Division of Water Quality found no signs of algae in the pond, but raised the possibility of bacterial infection from a gray crusty substance on the surface of the body of water.
“[Investigators] did say there was some growth likely that they think was partially composed of cyanobacteria on the grass growing along the edge of the water.”
“They have seen cases where dogs have become ill or died from consuming these kinds of cyanobacteria mats. And the mats sometimes contain these lethal levels of toxins that target the liver or neurological system of dogs.”
State investigators photographed a gray substance as a possible culprit in the dogs’ deaths.
The contamination caused the cancellation of a “huge” retriever event at the area in late May, according to Jolley.
It’s unclear if the dog training area has since been reopened.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.