Touched by the tragedy, Eureka Veterinary Hospital vet Rob Page said owners should immediately seek medical treatment for their dog if they suspect it had eaten fungi.

“Its death was really quick, it was in a fit and collapsed,” he said.

“Some of these mushrooms are really bad. It might start with vomiting, but it can progress to organ failure. 

"It was very sad."

Ballarat resident Tayler Lovelace stumbled across her two dogs, Archie and Tucker, eating some mushrooms in her backyard on Friday.

Panicking, Ms Lovelace rushed them to the vet and narrowly avoided a tragedy.

“As a dog lover and a dog owner, something like that would be absolutely horrible to happen, so that’s why I brought them in as quickly as possible,” she said.

Two toxic species are easily confused with edible varieties, the death cap and yellow-staining mushrooms