Concerns have been raised about water at a Wigan nature reserve after the death of a pet dog

Tom Price, his partner Kirsty Herbert and their children went for a walk on Easter Monday with springer spaniel Angel, who belonged to Kirsty’s mother Deborah Herbert.

They went to Three Sisters nature reserve in Ashton and walked through the Fairy Glen and along the back paths, before looping towards the car park.

Tom described Angel, who was seven years old, as being “fit, healthy and full of energy”.

As they walked back to the car, she entered a small stream of “rusty looking” water running alongside the footpath, which she splashed in and drank.

It was soon after that Angel became unwell.

Tom, who lives in Ashton, said: “After we left Three Sisters and were in the car, she appeared slightly unwell. At the time, we believed this may have been motion sickness, as she was not used to travelling in the car."

But the following day Angel refused to eat or drink and Deborah, who lives in Platt Bridge, asked Tom if he could take the dog to a vet.

Before he could do that, Angel had a seizure and died on Wednesday afternoon.

He said: “The loss has been devastating for the family. Angel was a much-loved companion, especially to my mother-in-law, who is disabled, and her elderly mother, providing them both with comfort and company every day.”

The family suspects something in the water made Angel ill, as the only other things she had consumed were her usual food and water at home.

He shared what happened on Facebook in a bid to warn other dog owners and said people reported their pets had also become unwell after visiting the area.

Tom said: “We do not yet know what may have been present in the water, but we wanted to raise awareness given how popular this location is with walkers and dog owners.

"We urge others to take extra care and prevent dogs from drinking from unknown or standing water sources in the area.

“We hope that by sharing Angel’s story, we may help prevent this happening to others.”

Tom reported what happened to Ashton-in-Makerfield South councillor Danny Fletcher, who said he would speak to various agencies about it.

He said: “I’ll be pushing to make sure that if any actions need to be taken, they are done as soon as possible.”

Tom also reported Angel’s death to the Environment Agency and it passed the information to Wigan Council’s environmental health team, which is responsible for investigating potential risks to animal or public health arising from local land or water sources.

A council spokesperson: "We have received a report from the Environment Agency concerning a dog that sadly became unwell after drinking water from a stream in the Three Sisters and Fairy Glen area of Ashton.

"A Wigan Council officer has visited the site to begin an investigation and we have no definitive findings about the cause at this early stage.

"We know this will cause concern for dog owners and, as a precaution, signage will be put up to ask that dogs are kept on a lead and out of the water until the investigation is complete. We will provide an update as soon as we can."