A Massachusetts man is alerting other dog owners of the dangers their pets face while out for a walk, after his three-month-old puppy overdosed on an opioid.
Peter Thibault says he was walking his dog Oct. 20, when he noticed his three-month-old yellow lab, named Zoey, acting strangely.
READ MORE: Meet Wallace, the puppy whose life was saved from a Fentanyl overdose
“She was a normal dog just like this, within seconds she keeled over and fell right on her side,” Thibault told WBZ.
Thibault said Zoey became unresponsive after sniffing a cigarette package he believes was laced with an opioid.
Soon Thibault knew something was wrong and rushed the dog to a veterinary clinic in Andover, Mass.
Veterinarians were quick to diagnose the dog was overdosing and quickly administered the puppy Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug more often administered to humans.
“Within five minutes … the dog was upright, alert, responsive, it was unbelievable,” said Thibault.
READ MORE: Dog suffers accidental drug overdose after visit to Surrey park
Veterinarians think Zoey ingested Fentanyl because heroin would have likely taken longer to leave her system and would have required more Naloxone.
The hospital’s medical director says it’s not the first time they treated a dog for an opioid overdose.
In June, a Maple Ridge, B.C. veterinarian was forced to administer Naloxone to a puppy after it consumed Fentanyl belonging to its owner.
Weeks later, a Surrey couple rushed their shepherd cross to a clinic after it overdosed on marijuana and cocaine that was left at a local park.
Comments