(AP) – With duck hunting season starting in parts of Kansas Saturday, hunters are being warned to protect their dogs from algae blooms.

Tom Langer, director of the state’s bureau of environmental health, says hunters should keep their dogs away from water that is green, slimy or has any kind of bad odor.

He says dogs seem particularly vulnerable to the toxins from blue-green algae. Four dogs died this summer after contact with infected water at Milford Reservoir.

Saturday’s opener is for the low plains early zone of Kansas, which includes Cheyenne Bottoms and the McPherson Valley Wetlands.

Langer hopes the problem has passed when the rest of central Kansas opens to du