Dog sickened after eating marijuana at park
Hamilton Township couple believe their English Cocker Spaniel pup ingested pot at Castlehill Park
COBOURG — Mary French-May is warning fellow dog owners after Jazz, her 10-month-old English cocker spaniel, got sick from what they believe was a discarded marijuana butt.
The Hamilton Township resident said she and her husband went for their usual walk with Jazz, a route that includes Castlehill Park, at 30 Stoneridge Rd., which is near their home, just north of Cobourg about 50 kilometres south of Peterborough.
“We came home and Jazz went to sleep for a long time. When she woke up she was really unsteady and kept falling over,” she said. “She was just wobbly, disoriented and like she didn’t know where she was.”
The scary incident started to unfold for the couple on Christmas Eve, when Jazz started falling over and had to be taken to an emergency veterinary clinic in Peterborough.
“It was terrible and she was just out of it by the time we got there, so we had to wake her up,” she said, describing the harrowing drive during a snow storm she described as “terrible.”
When they got there the vet told them Jazz had some of the classic symptoms of marijuana toxicity, which includes dilated pupils, disorientation and urinary incontinence.
Cobourg’s Dr. Patricia Stapley Chase, one of the practice owners at Pine Ridge Veterinary Clinic on Ontario Street, said they are the telltale signs she sees at the local clinic.
“We see a lot of it and I just saw one a couple of weeks ago,” she said, pointing to a family who said their dog got sick following a party in the backyard.
“The dog had urinary incontinence and was a little bit staggery. We gave the dog some form of absorbent such as an activated charcoal which helps absorb some toxins and usually (administer) some IV fluids to help absorb it as well.”
Stapley Chase said her biggest concern is when the marijuana is laced with another drug.
“Generally, if it’s not laced with something else it shouldn’t kill a dog unless they became so depressed they aspirate,” she said, adding that most cases are not that severe.
She said dog owners who use marijuana recreationally have also been more forthcoming when they realize their pet may have ingested it.
“Prior to it becoming legalized in October 2 018 people wouldn’t tell you what it was,” she said, noting that a lot of dogs will eat whatever they come across, whether its an edible pot product or discarded butt.
Emergency animal clinics in Peterborough report seeing a surge in marijuana toxicity cases among dogs since the legalization of marijuana.
A Douro-Dummer Township family’s dog also recently had to spend the night at one of those clinics after consuming marijuana while on a walk along the Trent Canal.
Since marijuana was legalized and even more since the start of the COVID -19 pandemic in March, the Kawartha Veterinary Emergency Clinic has seen an increased number of marijuana toxicity cases, according to Joanne Pidgeon, a registered veterinary technician at the clinic.
Two veterinarian technicians at the Parkhill Animal Hospital also said their clinic has seen a growing number of animals being brought in as a result of marijuana toxicity.
“Especially with edibles and marijuana butter,” Pidgeon said recently.
In the end, French-May said it didn’t take much for Jazz, who weighs only 22 pounds, to get sick.
“It was a really terrible experience.”
Besides getting users to dispose of their butts responsibly, she said dog owners, dog walkers and parents need to be aware of this “newish environmental hazard.”
“I think that parents and dog owners need to be made aware of this hazard and that smokers need to be shamed into behav
ing responsibly and dispose of their butts in a manner that is safe for our children, pets and our environment,” she said.
“During this very difficult time, we should be able to go for a walk without having to worry about the safety of our pets from unnecessary toxins on the
ground.”
A handwritten sign warning users of this incident is now visible to anyone who walks by Castlehill Park.