Dozens of pets getting sick in Lethbridge after coming into contact with foxtail

A recent influx of foxtail plants in Lethbridge is to blame for a sudden spike in dogs getting sick in the area.

A few days ago, west Lethbridge resident Sandi Hughes had to rush her dog, Bella, to the vet. She had foxtail seeds stuck in her throat, requiring her to be sedated for emergency surgery to have them removed.

“She had this hacking cough, she was gagging, she was eating grass and lapping the ground to try and throw up,” Hughes said.

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The skin-piercing seeds come from clusters of the dry-looking grass, called foxtail.

Hughes believes they are blowing onto her property from nearby, undeveloped land in Copperwood, owned by several homebuilders.

“Just blanketing our yard and our dog run,” she said. “We’re doing our best to literally vacuum the dog run clean everyday.”

But just hours later, more blow back.

The problem isn’t limited to just Hughe’s yard. Sue St. Croix, the vet tech at Park Pet Hospital in west Lethbridge, says she’s treated about two dozen dogs over the last couple weeks, costing pet owners upwards of $500.

“We’ve seen an incredible number of cases of dogs coming in with foxtails either stuck in their tonsils, their tongues, the roof of their mouth, up their nose, in their ears,” St. Croix said.

She says the barbed seed heads can also get stuck on fur, which can be groomed off if caught early enough, otherwise, she says they can cause infection and even migrate through the skin.

“They cause little tiny abscesses and they cause inflammation and ulcers,” St. Croix said.

The invasion of foxtails appears to be happening mainly on the west side.

Park Pet’s north-side location says it only dealt with one case this year.

Family Pet Hospital, a 24-hour pet emergency centre, says one to two dogs a day are being brought in after coming into contact with the skin-piercing seeds, mainly on the west side.

Foxtails are not considered a noxious weed in Lethbridge, meaning they are not required to be cleaned.

According to the Weed Control Regulation, a city can introduce a bylaw to designate a plant a noxious weed, with approval from the province.

For now, the Copperwood land developer tells Global News that all homebuilders have agreed to clean the foxtail from their respective land by the end of next week, after several complaints were received.

Global News also spoke to several residents in the Gary Station area in west Lethbridge, experiencing the same issue.