Dog dies from likely overdose
Sampson the bullmastiff unable to be saved after walk in Glenridge Quarry
Joanne Hubley is living every dog lover’s worst nightmare.
Her seven-year-old bullmastiff Sampson died after a leisurely walk along Glenridge Quarry, from what veterinarians believe is a drug overdose.
Hubley had taken Sampson for a walk along the quarry at about noon last Friday.
As he could be reactive, he wore a muzzle when out.
About midnight, Hubley said, Sampson started acting strangely. She said he was out of it, and drooling.
“At this point in my head, I’m like, did he have a stroke? Did he have a seizure? ” she said. “So we get him in the car, and this isn’t an easy task because he’s like 95 pounds, but at this point, he can move. He’s walking, he’s just lumbering around, but really out of it. So I just think this is all really weird.”
She took Sampson to an emergency vet and, after consultation, the vets assumed Sampson had gotten into marijuana when on their walk.
Doctors told her he would act strangely for a few hours more, but he would get over it.
However, Sampson got worse, and it wasn’t until the second time Hubley brought him to the emergency vet, at about 2 a.m., that they ran tests, and he tested positive for opioids.
Hubley said doctors then tried using naloxone on the dog four times, but were unable to save him.
“I was able to call the rest of my family, my mom and dad and my boyfriend, and they were able to say their goodbyes,” she said.
The walk was the only thing out of the ordinary the pair had done that day.
Hubley believes while on the walk Sampson must have inhaled something from the ground.
“I don’t know what the next step is because I did not think I was in an unsafe place. I did not think that I was putting myself and, more importantly, my dog in any position of danger,” she said. “I wish I could sort of say, ‘Oh, yeah, I know there was the pile of garbage and we accidentally went through it,’ or ‘Oh my gosh, my back was turned and he was off-leash,’ but my dog can’t go off-leash..”
Hubley contacted police later the same day to report the incident, but isn’t sure what more they can do.
Her dog walker, a group called the Perfect Pack, shared Hubley’s and Sampson’s story on Facebook, and the post has garnered more than 1,500 shares.