A family has been devastated by the death of their beloved pet dog Scampi from Weil's disease which they believe he picked up while swimming in the River Kennet.

Vicky Gill, 30, of Baylie Acre in Marlborough, first noticed the six-year-old Jack Russell was unwell on August 20 when he was having difficulties with his back legs.

She took him to the vets thinking he had pulled a muscle trying to jump the stair gate at her home but the vet couldn’t find anything wrong other than a high temperature so gave Scampi antibiotics.

Throughout the night and the following day the family pet was sick a number of times which was thought to be a reaction to the antibiotic but by Friday Scampi’s skin had turned yellow.

Miss Gill, who works at Tesco in Marlborough and has a seven-year-old daughter Amber and an 11-year-old son Aaron, took Scampi to Drove Veterinary Hospital in Swindon. He was kept in overnight but had to be put down on Saturday.

Miss Gill said: “He was really healthy and he was just doing something that he loved so it’s quite devastating.”

Scampi had gone for a swim in the river during a walk in Stoney Bridge.

The veterinary hospital has taken blood samples from Scampi to see how strong the disease, often carried by rodents, is and the results will be sent to the Environment Agency.

Miss Gill, who has an 11-week-old staffie called Hooch, said: “You can get a vaccine for it but it’s not in the booster vaccines which I thought covered everything and it only lasts a year.

“It’s quite a fast flowing river, you would maybe expect it in the stagnant water but not fast-flowing water.

“If there had been signs up we wouldn’t have taken Scampi up there.

“It’s contagious so we’ve had to disinfect the whole house.”