(KRON) — Several dogs in California’s Central Coast have recently died or been hospitalized after eating toxic mushrooms, the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter said Monday. The shelter is sounding the alarm on what to watch out for while outside with pets.
Following the first rainy days of winter in the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast, mushrooms of all types have been emerging. “While many are harmless, some are extremely dangerous, and the toxic ones can be hard to identify,” the SCC Animal Shelter said.
According to the shelter, the most dangerous species of mushrooms found in the area — death cap, fly agaric and destroying angel — each have a slightly fishy smell that can attract dogs and cats.
Death cap mushrooms are described as tan or light brown and “look a lot like mushrooms you’d find at the grocery store,” the shelter said. Fly agaric mushrooms can be bright yellow, gold or red and have raised white speckles. Destroying angel mushrooms are ghostly white.
Rise in hospitalizations prompts warning of toxic wild mushrooms
The shelter recommends that pet owners check their yards daily to remove emerging mushrooms. While at parks and along trails, dogs should be leashed and owners should watch carefully what their dogs are sniffing on the ground…