Sacramento pet owners seek answers after multiple dogs get sick after walks in park
SACRAMENTO — Over a dozen dog owners claimed their pets got sick after walking in Frank Seymour Park in Sacramento at the beginning of August.
The park is in the Greenhaven neighborhood off of Florin Road, and pet owners started to ask questions once they saw people online sharing the same experiences.
"She started throwing up and drooling heavily, like everywhere," said Bryce Hoeltke whose seven-year-old dog, Juno, got sick at the beginning of August after taking a walk through Seymour Park.
There were similar symptoms in other dogs who also had taken walks in this park.
"Within an hour, he was throwing up and he threw up for 24 hours," said Deborah Cook, whose dog also got sick.
Hoeltke's dog was sick for about three to four days.
"After every time she got sick, she would come in and look at you with those really sad puppy faces," Hoeltke said.
For Cook's dog Scotty, the sickness only lasted about 24 hours.
"There was at least 20 different people posting on Nextdoor that their dogs got sick in the same way," Cook said.
Scotty came down with the sickness at the end of July.
"A lot that said they just threw up and a lot that said they just were lethargic and wouldn't eat," Cook said.
Hoeltke contacted 311 to get some answers once he started hearing online about the other neighborhood dogs who went to the veterinarian with no clear diagnosis.
The Sacramento City Parks Department responded to his inquiry asking for more details about the area of the park he visited and said it would be investigating potential causes.
The 311 ticket has since been marked closed and Hoeltke never heard anything back.
Scotty and the other dogs have since recovered and returned to their daily walks at Seymour Park.
"Everyone's saying they think it may have been a mosquito spray," Cook said.
The City of Sacramento said in a statement that it "cannot attribute any maintenance activities to be the reason," and the cause is still unknown. The full statement said:
In early August, staff received reports regarding concerns about dogs becoming sick at Seymour Park and investigated previous maintenance activities to see if any work could be related to the reports. While the ultimate cause remains unknown, the City cannot attribute any maintenance activities to be the reason.
Weeds at Seymour Park were treated most recently on June 5. The herbicides used by Park Maintenance staff would not cause the symptoms described in the reports. Additionally, staff treated 67 other parks this past spring and summer and we have not received any reports regarding dog sickness at any of these parks.
We hope that the dog owners can determine the cause, and their animals have a quick recovery. We encourage all park visitors to continue reporting concerns at parks to 3-1-1 so that we can continue to investigate as items are brought to our attention.
Veterinarians caution pet owners to have their dogs' vaccines and parasite protection up to date. And just like humans, if your dog is not feeling well, stay home.
