Halstead: Owners warned after disease kills dog (From Halstead Gazette)

Halstead: Owners warned after disease kills dog

4:00pm Friday 8th February 2013 in News

Pet owners have been warned after a potentially fatal disease that is also contagious to humans claimed the life of a much-loved dog.

The eight-year-old black Labrador, which lived just with its owners just outside Halstead, died after picking up canine leptospirosis, otherwise known as Weil’s disease.

Despite treatment at both the Forge Veterinary Centre in Head Street, Halstead, and a specialist referral centre in Newmarket, the pet suffered multiple organ failure and had to be put down.

Leptospirosis is highly contagious to both humans and animals, and infection usually follows exposure to water contaminated by animal urine.

Vet Emily Nightingale said staff had since seen another case involving a three-year-old Labrador, but the younger dog was successfully treated and able to go home on Tuesday.

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