KVOA

Posted: Nov 24, 2009 9:51 PM
Updated: Nov 24, 2009 11:16 PM

PADRE ISLAND - The National Park Service sent out a warning Tuesday afternoon alerting pet owners to keep their dogs far away from Padre Island National Seashore.

Wade Stablein, a biological technician with the National Park Service, strongly recommends people to refrain from bringing their dogs out there because of a mystery illness which has affected several canines.

"First off, we are recommending to people to not bring their animals out here, until we get a grip on what's going on," said Stablein.

During the past week, two coyotes were found dead and two more were euthanized because of their condition.

"We've been finding animals up and down the park on the Gulf beach," said Stablein.

Causing even more reason for concern, a park visitor reported one of his dogs dead and another severely ill after entering the park.

Although there is no definitive cause at this time, the park service suspects that the illness is contracted from ingesting tainted fish. Possibly, fish washed ashore contaminated from red tide, or naturally decaying fish, causing botulism.

A coyote carcass was sent to a lab at the park's national headquarters in Fort Collins, Colo. for an examination. Until then, the deadly illness will remain a mystery.