Dog overdoses on cocaine during routine walk, owner says

A Canadian pet owner is warning people to be vigilant after her dog ingested cocaine left behind at a public park two months ago.

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Sara Bell had taken Nilak, her 2-year-old husky, to the North 40 Park Reserve in Delta, British Columbia, when the animal picked up a napkin off the ground, CBC reported.

“He just swallowed it whole,” Bell told the news organization. “So, I wasn’t able to get it out of him.”

Since Nilak had ingested napkins before, Bell said she was not concerned -- until the canine began acting strangely.

The dog has a condition called Portosystemic Shunt , a condition where blood detours around the liver instead of going through it. Knowing this, Bell took the husky to a veterinarian, where she received a shock.

Tests revealed Nilak had ingested and overdosed on cocaine, CBC reported. After some fluids were pumped into the dog’s system, he had recovered and could resume his normal activities.

“I was mostly in disbelief and shock and really, really scared for my dog,” Bell told the Canadian news outlet. “I was crying at this point because I was so certain that I was going to have to put him down. And (the vet) came to me and he said, ‘It’s cocaine.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean it’s cocaine?’”

Bell recounted her story in a Facebook post and said she was stunned to learn how many people had experienced a similar episode with their pets.

“To have something like that happen, and have it happen in that many places, it makes you really scared to take them out for walks,” Bell told CBC.

Tracy Fisher, the president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, said she has seen an uptick of overdoses among dogs, even at her practice in Regina, Saskatchewan.

“It’s a North America issue,” Fisher told CBC. “It’s really almost everywhere where people are using illicit substances.”

Fisher added that getting a pet to the vet quickly can help its survival rate, particularly if it ingested the deadly opioid fentanyl.

“If they arrive in the clinic alive, we have probably a very good chance of saving them because we’re able to administer, you know, the naloxone right away. We’re able to support breathing,” Fisher told CBC. “We’re able to manage those things, manage the seizures.”