Brogan-Alexandra Proud of Yorkshire Coast Pet Care first sounded the alarm about the illness on January 10. She said dogs were falling ill with vomiting and diarrhoea after visiting beaches. More than two weeks later, Ms Proud has warned the illness is “still rapidly spreading”.
The vet, quoted in Yorkshire Live, said she has been “inundated with dogs coming off the beaches with vomiting and diarrhoea” in recent weeks.
She insisted owners must continue to be vigilant, with the illness as yet showing no signs of disappearing.
Ms Proud said: “It’s still much the same.
“The situation has not changed.”
In a sign the illness is linked in some way to beaches in the area, she added that fewer dog walkers were now going to these areas and “not quite as many” dogs were being referred to her practice.
She said: “There’s not 20 a day like there was but there’s still a few coming in each day with the symptoms.”
Ms Proud “massively” believes the source of the illness could be toxins being released in the Yorkshire sea.
She stressed: “These aren’t normal things – there’s definitely something doing on.
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Its symptoms are usually mild, though can be sever in a minority of cases, it said.
SAVSNET stressed that it must collect data for another one to two weeks “before we can decide if this change [in case numbers] constitutes an outbreak”.
It added that GI disease in dogs peaks each year in January.
Ms Proud insisted, however, that more dogs were coming down with the illness than she has ever experienced.
She said: “I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I know it gets worse this time of year but I have never seen numbers like this coming through.
“Local practices in the area have said the same thing.
“There was loads of people saying that their dogs had come off the beach and were ill just hours later on the post as well. This was definitely not normal.”
