Britain’s pets face drug crisis
BRITAIN’S drug crisis is not just confined to supermodels, rock stars and bored teenagers. There’s growing evidence that household pets are increasingly suffering from the deliberate or accidental effects of drug abuse.
Petplan’s shock findings reveal that a nearly half of the country’s vets have treated domestic pets for drug-related incidents, with a quarter reporting up to four incidents a year.
The research shows that dogs are the most likely to be affected. Whether that’s because they are more likely to gobble up bits of rubbish - including the remains of marijuana ‘joints’, or because more and more pet owners are conducting what they consider to be ‘amusing, harmless experiments’ is not clear. Yet vets believe some of the incidents, often involving young puppies, were deliberate.
Whilst mood-enhancing drugs such as cannabis rarely prove fatal for a pet, unpleasant side-effects can include dizziness, vomiting and temporary loss of movement. The effects can last up to three or four days and throughout that time, veterinary monitoring is essential to ensure major organs don’t fail. As a result vets bills can run into many hundreds of pounds.
Petplan’s consultant vet, Scott Miller, is no stranger to treating drug-related cases in pets.
While working at a practice in London he treated a three-year-old Dalmatian who had eaten a block of hash. “Jasper was essentially very stoned - he could barely open his eyes, his pupils were constricted, he was vomiting and couldn’t stand up. The drugs had got stuck in his intestines so an emergency operation was required as well as round-the clock veterinary monitoring. Three days later after the drugs had worn off, Jasper was sent home - but not before a stern lecture to the owners”.
In addition to marijuana, vets have also been treating pets for misuse of over-the-counter drugs, including contraceptives and paracetamol.
Scott Miller adds: “This is a serious issue. You wouldn’t leave drugs lying around for children to pick up, and we should be adopting the same levels of caution for our pets.
Like children, dogs will go looking for mischief, so all potentially harmful substances should be locked away. It‘s horrifying that vets are seeing these drug-related cases at all - let alone when it is believed to be deliberate misuse”.
