Haddo House and Country Park given blue-green algae all-clear after concerns

Haddo House and Country Park in Aberdeenshire has been given the all clear over concerns of blue-green algae.

Earlier this week, it was suspected a dog that had been swimming in the lake had died after its owner said it had been exposed to the deadly algae.

However, this theory has now been rejected by the park following testing.

‘We knew it was just a rumour from the start’

Suzanna Atkinson, the head of visitor services at Haddo said: “We spoke to Sepa on Monday night. They even said to us that it is very unlikely that you guys have it, because Haddo’s water is flowing.

“We did everything we had to do. We did the test multiple times just to make sure and there was absolutely zero counts of the bacteria.

“We knew it was just a rumour from the start.

“We have access to experts on fisheries. We have access to expert ecologists. We are surrounded by agricultural lands – so we have to be on top of it.

In a post on social media, the Haddo House and Country Park said: “Our thoughts are with the owners of the dog that died and hopefully the above findings will help them and the vet narrow down what actually caused the poor pup to die.”

Concerns over possible sightings of the algae have been rising in recent weeks.

On Friday, Highland Council warned pet owners after the algae was tested positive in Clickimin Loch in Lerwick.

According to the UK’s largest organisation dedicated to dog health, The Kennel Club, it can kill dogs in five minutes.

The park has urged people to be more careful sharing rumour and guesswork on social media.

Miss Atkinson, 48, who lives on the Haddo estate, added: “We have just come through Storm Arwen when we lost 100,000 trees. And now this rumor starts.

“It’s been massively disheartening and super stressful. And we were personally upset because we are all dog lovers.

“It would be great if people didn’t share things that were not fact.”

So what happened to the dog?

Now questions have been raised about the real cause of the dog’s death after blue-green algae has been ruled out.

Miss Atkinson believes: “I think that is far more likely that it was either heatstroke or drowning.

“The dog died after an incredibly hot day. People don’t realise just how hot their dogs are getting after running around.

“It can sometimes take up to three days to drown, sometimes called dry drowning – humans can get it too.

“They all have fairly similar symptoms so it could have been misdiagnosed as either of them.”