By Anna King, NW News Network

Pets dead or sick after coming in contact with Columbia River water near the Tri-Cities, Wash. Now health officials have confirmed the culprit, Anatoxin-a in toxic algae.

Charlie was just nosing around in the Columbia River. Her family was off a beach they had visited many times before just north of Richland, Washington.

The young Terrier mix — weighing about 18 pounds — had been adopted from a shelter recently. After she put her face in the water Sunday, all of a sudden, Charlie started convulsing. The family quickly wrapped the dog in a towel and raced their boat back toward the Snyder Boat launch.

“I caught a glimpse of her at the launch as they lifted her out of the boat,” says Erin Dickey, of Richland, the adult daughter of the dog’s owners Janet and Tony Ogden of Richland. “She was limp. Her tongue was sticking out between her teeth and it was white. She might have been gone at that point.”

It took about less than an hour to get Charlie from the river’s edge to a vet in Pasco, but by then she was dead.

Since Monday five more pets have turned up sick or dead near the Tri-Cities. All are believed to have had recent contact with Columbia River water: Four have died. Two dogs were sickened, but survived.

The culprit? Toxic algae.

Richland Riverfront closed

Health officials now have closed the river shore from the boat launch at Howard Amon Park to the confluence of the Yakima River. The closure came after river water sample results from a King County lab showed the presence of Anatoxin-a — especially dangerous for small children and animals.

In a press release from Benton-Franklin Health District, officials say: “People and animals are exposed by ingesting the water. Symptoms appear within 15-20 minutes after ingestion depending upon the size of the person/animal affected and the amount of toxins consumed.

Exposure in animals may result in weakness, staggering, difficulty breathing, convulsions, and death.

In people, signs may include numbness of the lips, tingling in fingers and toes, and dizziness. Exposure to Anatoxin-a can be fatal.”

Officials also cautioned against eating fish caught near the Columbia River algae bloom.

Toxic algae is usually found in warm, slow moving water with elevated nutrients, such as fertilizer. According to University of Washington research scientist Ryan McCabe, Columbia River water levels at its mouth are the lowest seen since at least 1991.

“Data prior to that [1991] are pretty spotty, so not the greatest,” McCabe said in an email.

Record heat and widespread drought are likely playing a part, according to the state Department of Ecology. Low-flow rivers are acting more like lakes.

While that stretch of the Columbia is normally fast-flowing, the river and its tributaries are dammed from northern Washington, clear to Bonneville.

“The Columbia is a different beast,” McCabe says. “It’s a very regulated river.”