“It’s scary to know that I have been exposed — my children have been exposed, my pets have been exposed — to that type of environment that could have been prevented.”
Costa was a healthy 3-year old golden retriever when an encounter with toxic water left her life hanging in the balance. She’d escaped from her backyard and made a run for the St. Lucie River during an active blue-green algae bloom in 2018. Shortly after ingesting some of the algae-laden water, she began vomiting — her body’s desperate attempt to clear itself of the poison. Unbeknownst to her panicked family, Costa was already experiencing organ failure. Only the fast action of emergency vets who quickly diagnosed her run-in with the river’s toxic algae saved her life.
Costa survived her experience, with lingering impacts described by her owner Ashley Guzi in the video above. Not every beloved family pet who came into contact with the water in Martin County that year was as lucky. The danger that lurked beneath the surface in 2018 was a wake-up call. It underscored the animal- and human-health threats posed by toxic by Lake Okeechobee discharges. Seven years later, that threat remains.
The Guzi family’s story is a cautionary tale. It points to the urgent need to finish the job of Everglades restoration — to finally prevent harmful Lake O discharges once and for all. We know the solution: land acquisition in the Everglades Agricultural Area. We have the funding to get it done. Now is the time to prevent toxic discharges and better safeguard the lives, human and animal, that live along these waterways.
For a healthier Florida, we must demand this change.
