Miniature Australian Shepherd Jefferson seems fully recovered after his trip.
A B.C. hiker is asking others not to toss the butts of marijuana cigarettes into the woods after his dog ingested an unknown amount of cannabis and had to be packed off a Vancouver Island mountain peak on Saturday.
Ian Ward said he often hikes the trails near Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park with his dog Jefferson, a miniature Australian Shepherd who has “a ton of energy.”
But on Saturday, the dog had to be carried off Sugarloaf Mountain after he ate what Ward first thought was a roach, but may have been a larger piece of a marijuana joint.
When Ward and his teen son reached the summit, there were several people enjoying the view and a toke, he said.
“Some, if not all of them, were enjoying cannabis, and I have no criticism of that.”
But the Victoria hiker wants people to understand the risks associated with leaving garbage behind on the trail.
As Ward was having a snack, he noticed Jefferson chewing on something. He pulled the end of a joint out of the dog’s mouth.
“I could tell he’d swallowed a bit,” he said, “but I didn’t really think anything of it.”
The men and their dog headed back down the trail, but after about 10 minutes, Jefferson began to act lethargic. His eyes were glazed over and he stumbled a few times. Eventually, the dog lay on the ground and stopped moving.
Ward, who always carries emergency essentials with him on his hikes, had a Fido Pro sling, a lightweight sling that fits like a backpack and is designed to carry a dog off a trail. He said he has never had to use it before.
The men loaded Jefferson into the sling, and Ward’s son carried the dog for one-and-a-half hours to the trailhead. By the time they reached their car, Jefferson was looking better and had taken some water. Ward reached his vet on the phone and was told to monitor the dog.
“He was really, really lethargic all evening,” he said. “I got up to check on him at night and he seemed to be sleeping fine. The next day, he was back to normal.”
In March, the B.C. SPCA warned dog owners about marijuana after several pet poisonings.
In a news release, the SPCA said marijuana can be lethal for dogs when a large amount is ingested. Reports show that dogs have a larger number of cannabinoid receptors in their brains compared to humans and may be more sensitive to the toxic effects of THC. Smaller dogs are at greatest risk.
Ward said he wanted to share his experience to encourage people not to leave butts behind when hiking.
“I didn’t view it as an issue for dogs before,” he said. “I’d thought of it as a fire hazard and about the litter. I think this is another reason that ‘Pack it in, pack it out’ applies to everything.”
source: https://vancouversun.com/news/local...b-c-mountain-peak-after-eating-marijuana-butt
archive: https://archive.ph/thK9o
A B.C. hiker is asking others not to toss the butts of marijuana cigarettes into the woods after his dog ingested an unknown amount of cannabis and had to be packed off a Vancouver Island mountain peak on Saturday.
Ian Ward said he often hikes the trails near Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park with his dog Jefferson, a miniature Australian Shepherd who has “a ton of energy.”
But on Saturday, the dog had to be carried off Sugarloaf Mountain after he ate what Ward first thought was a roach, but may have been a larger piece of a marijuana joint.
When Ward and his teen son reached the summit, there were several people enjoying the view and a toke, he said.
“Some, if not all of them, were enjoying cannabis, and I have no criticism of that.”
But the Victoria hiker wants people to understand the risks associated with leaving garbage behind on the trail.
As Ward was having a snack, he noticed Jefferson chewing on something. He pulled the end of a joint out of the dog’s mouth.
“I could tell he’d swallowed a bit,” he said, “but I didn’t really think anything of it.”
The men and their dog headed back down the trail, but after about 10 minutes, Jefferson began to act lethargic. His eyes were glazed over and he stumbled a few times. Eventually, the dog lay on the ground and stopped moving.
Ward, who always carries emergency essentials with him on his hikes, had a Fido Pro sling, a lightweight sling that fits like a backpack and is designed to carry a dog off a trail. He said he has never had to use it before.
The men loaded Jefferson into the sling, and Ward’s son carried the dog for one-and-a-half hours to the trailhead. By the time they reached their car, Jefferson was looking better and had taken some water. Ward reached his vet on the phone and was told to monitor the dog.
“He was really, really lethargic all evening,” he said. “I got up to check on him at night and he seemed to be sleeping fine. The next day, he was back to normal.”
In March, the B.C. SPCA warned dog owners about marijuana after several pet poisonings.
In a news release, the SPCA said marijuana can be lethal for dogs when a large amount is ingested. Reports show that dogs have a larger number of cannabinoid receptors in their brains compared to humans and may be more sensitive to the toxic effects of THC. Smaller dogs are at greatest risk.
Ward said he wanted to share his experience to encourage people not to leave butts behind when hiking.
“I didn’t view it as an issue for dogs before,” he said. “I’d thought of it as a fire hazard and about the litter. I think this is another reason that ‘Pack it in, pack it out’ applies to everything.”
source: https://vancouversun.com/news/local...b-c-mountain-peak-after-eating-marijuana-butt
archive: https://archive.ph/thK9o
