Tearful woman reveals how a 'silent killer' claimed the life of her dog as it swam in Lake Tahoe

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A beloved family dog was killed after ingesting toxic blooms of blue-green algae at a 'popular dog beach' along Lake Tahoe, according a tearful account posted to TikTok.

'I've been crying for a day straight,' the pet's owner began, titling her video 'Do not swim in Lake Tahoe this weekend,' ahead of the four-day holiday.

'I wanted to share because I hope this will save someone's life or someone's dog's life,' she said. 'I'm really concerned that there's more of the nervetoxin in Lake Tahoe.'

The tragic death is just one in a global wave of similar fatalities attributed to these deadly toxins, produced by cyanobacteria and microalgae across America, according to reports by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Across 16 US states, a total of 117 human illnesses and at least 2,715 deaths of pets, livestock and wildlife were documented in just the year 2021 alone, the CDC found.

A beloved family dog was killed after ingesting toxic blooms of blue-green algae at a 'popular dog beach' along Lake Tahoe, according a tearful account posted to TikTok: 'I'm really concerned that there's more of the nervetoxin in Lake Tahoe,' the pet owner said (above)

Across 16 US states, a total of 117 human illnesses and at least 2,715 deaths of pets, livestock and wildlife were documented in just the year 2021 alone, according to a recent report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Above, Cora, the dog who passed away

Experts warn the blooms reach their most expansive and deadly in August, with 90 percent of this often invisible and toxic algae forming in lakes and other fresh waters.

'The water was extremely clear,' the pet owner warned. 'It was beautiful. The lake was beautiful. There was no reason to suspect this could happen.'  

'There were tons of other animals and people in the water swimming,' the TikTok user Anaïs, who goes by anaisfelt on the platform, said. 

'Within an hour she was very sick,' Anaïs said of her family's dog, Cora, 'and within three hours she had passed away.'

'We rushed her to an emergency hospital in Nevada and we found out that she had ingested blue green algae,' she explained through visible distress, wiping tears. 

'It basically shuts down your whole body and there's no cure for it,' she said.

The CDC's technical term for these cases is 'Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) events,' which a the centers' recent report attributes to rising water temperatures due to global warming — but also a phenomenon known as 'nutrient pollution.' 

A massive influx of material like human waste and agricultural fertilizer has poured into freshwater and coastal ecosystems as populations grow along the coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The death of Cora (pictured) is just one in a global wave of similar fatalities attributed to these deadly toxins, produced by cyanobacteria and microalgae across the world, most often in bodies of fresh water, like lakes. Experts warn the blooms reach their most deadly in August

Unique local conditions can lead to a high degree of variation in the chemical make up of the potential toxins produced by these blooms of blue-green algae, the informal name for these cyanobacteria.

'Complex cyanotoxin mixtures further complicates the risk assessment process for these lakes,' as a team of university and government scientists explained in a 2020 paper for the journal Toxicon, 'given uncertainty in the toxicology of mixtures.'

But regardless, these researchers from the US Geological Survey, the University of California at Santa Cruz, the EPA and elsewhere, emphasized the 'need for future monitoring efforts to help minimize human and domestic pet exposure.' 

In the meantime, veterinary experts advise dog owners to only allow their pets to swim in 'clean, moving water — creeks, rivers, or the ocean.'

Vets and state agencies, like Utah's Department of Environmental Quality, advise further to steer dogs away from algae mats, scum, or discoloration, detectable for looking 'like pea soup, spilled paint, or water that has a green or blue-green hue.'

Making sure to bring fresh, clean drinking water from home for your pet, and yourself, will also help lessen the risks from cyanotoxins in algal blooms.

As Anaïs warned her followers this past Independence Day, 'The neurotoxin can impact humans too. It can impact anyone: cats, humans... and there were no signs.' 

According to the California Water Boards , even the warning signs typically posted, known as a 'Planktonic HAB [Harmful Algal Bloom] advisory' are voluntary at Lake Tahoe

'I don't know if this is true, but the vet who was helping us told us that they don't do testing on the water to prevent this from happening,' the grieving pet owner said.

'They just kind of wait for dogs to die and then that's how they know to warn people.'

In fact, according to the California Water Boards, even the warning signs typically posted, known as a 'Planktonic HAB advisory' are voluntary at Lake Tahoe. 

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'Planktonic HAB advisory signs are voluntarily posted once laboratory results confirm the presence of HABs in the water,' the board states, 'or if visual indicators (e.g. discoloration, scum, soupy or paint like appearance) are observed.'

'A planktonic HAB advisory sign may also be posted in response to, and while investigating, a report of a potential HAB-related human or animal illness,' they said.

But such reactive official policies, while helpful in preventing some further deaths and illness, are small comfort to those like whose loved ones and pets come to serve as the metaphorical canaries in the coal mine.

'Our lives will never be the same,' Anaïs told her TikTok followers. 'She was the heart and soul of our family.'