CLF’s top dog loves nothing better than a long swim in the Mystic or Charles rivers – but bacteria and algae outbreaks are forcing him to stay on land.
My name is Henry and, as you can tell from my photo, I’m a dog. Most days, you can catch me doing my dog thing: napping, eating, sleeping, snacking, going for walks with my humans. One of my favorite things to do is heading to the Charles River so I can swim and cool off from the heat (which is much worse this summer thanks to climate change, but I digress).
But a couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t allowed to jump in the river. It looked good to me, but my human said it wasn’t safe. The river had too much bacteria from sewage, because the rain created too much runoff for the pipes to handle. I like to splash around in mud puddles, but even I think that’s gross!
I couldn’t swim on my next walky either, because the river was…