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UNION CITY (KRON) — Officials in two East Bay cities are taking steps to clean up their dog parks after reports of pets getting sick.
One couple told KRON4 their dog was infected with a bacteria.
The owners of this 7-month-old McNab mix named Shay are returning to the Drigon Dog Park in Union City for the first time after they say their pet was diagnosed with leptospirosis.
“Well, well basically the vet didn’t say anything about where she caught it, but probably…probably here,” Sherri Penney said.
Known commonly as lepto, the disease can spread through infected animal urine found in stagnant water or soil.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, it can be transferred to people and cause flu-like symptoms and sometimes result in kidney or liver disease.
Shay’s owners say they noticed a change in their pup right away.
“All the sudden she started urinating everywhere and her energy was low and her appetite was low,” Dana Penney said.
Shay has since been treated with antibiotics and cleared by her vet to go back to the dog park.
Union City officials say they closed and disinfected this park back in September after learning of a potential lepto outbreak that was never confirmed.
And then they did it again in December after hearing of more cases linked to Fremont’s Central Park dog park.
Officials there say they also closed and disinfected the dog park in November after an anonymous person complained their dog got infected here.
Since that scrub-down, two more people also say their pets were infected after visiting. So, the park was closed and cleaned again.
Fremont park officials say they plan to disinfect the park quarterly now and have removed the water bowls.
Signs are posted warning people about the potential problem at both parks and suggest that people bring their own water for their dogs.
Most back visiting the parks on Friday say they aren’t worried about it.
Most are just happy to have their parks back open so their dogs can have a safe place to run around.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
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