Post by Graveyardbride on Jul 11, 2019 23:24:42 GMT -5
Dogs Getting High from Eating Pot-laced Human Poop
After Rebecca Cole returned home after hiking near Aspen, Colorado, with Marty, a 2-year-old cattle dog breed, the animal began acting strangely, staggering and vomiting. She took him to the veterinarian who told her the dog was likely high on marijuana from eating human feces along the trail. “It’s unlikely that many people toss an edible or a roach on the side of the trail,” said veterinarian Scott Dolginow, who reported he sees three to 10 dogs high on pot per week.
In Vermont, Liz Robert, the owner of a 3-year-old Australian shepherd named Zuheros, is sure her dog became high on marijuana from human waste he ate during a hike up Mount Philo last year. She rushed him to the vet’s office, where he vomited what appeared to be feces, Robert told Vermont TV station WPTZ. She told a reporter she returned to the trail and “found human feces with Subway napkins and all – so there was no disputing what it was.” She posted signs along the trail to warn other hikers of the danger. In fact, multiple dogs have been hospitalized and tested positive for marijuana after being allowed to run loose in Mount Philo State Park. A professional dog-walking and pet-sitting agency posted on Facebook that three dogs had become sick from THC toxicity in the same week at the park.
It’s not just happening in the mountains or state parks, but urban areas, too. According to KQED, Maizey, a pit bull-mix, spent some time digging around bushes at a park in San Francisco and got high after eating the feces of homeless persons who were apparently high on marijuana themselves. “Dogs love that [human excrement] scent,” veterinarian Dorrie Black told the Northern California public radio station. “To them it’s perfume.”
Data seems to back up the fact that more pets, especially dogs (other pets don’t eat human excrement), are getting THC poisoning – though figures pertaining to human waste as a source aren’t readily available.
The animal poison control center for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported a more than seven-fold increase this year in the number of phone calls from people whose pets consumed marijuana. “Exposures in indirect ways have also been reported,” according to the ASPCA. “Consumption of human feces or careless disposal of marijuana remnants in public locations, to name a couple.” Signs a dog could be high on weed include lethargy, loss of coordination, dilated pupils, a slow heart rate, hypothermia and urinary incontinence, according to the ASPCA.
Elena Butler, who lives in Canada and owns a dog that became high from marijuana-laced waste, has advice for people who choose to consume pot and defecate outside, according to CKWX. “I just want people to be responsible,” she told the Vancouver radio station. “People are getting down on dog-owners about cleaning up after their dog poop – clean up after your own poop.”
Despite a few conscientious dog owners who pick up their animal’s waste, it is still a major problem on bike paths, hiking trails, sidewalks, lawns and in bodies of water, where it causes the growth of highly-toxic blue-green algae.
Watch video of dogs on pot here.
Sources: Chacour Koop, The Kansas City Star, July 10, 2019; Adam Drury, Green Rush Daily, March 4, 2016; and Inside Edition.