WATCH: Kevin Edwards was walking his dog Bentley in a wooded area near Beban Park when the dog ate human feces and soon fell ill.
Two-year-old old Bentley, a pure English yellow lab was back at Applecross Veterinary Clinic in Nanaimo Thursday, feeling much better after a close call the day before.
Bentley was on a leash with owner Kevin Edwards walking in a wooded area beside Beban Park along Labieux Road.
“And all of a sudden I see him go behind a tree. I went over to see and there was toilet paper and human feces and this and that and I was like, oh no,” said Edwards
Bentley had eaten human feces and about 20 minutes later began showing signs of distress.
“He was kind of walking sideways and all of a sudden just kind of laid down at my neighbour’s feet and right there that was it I was so worried,” added Edwards.
He then rushed his dog to Doctor Julie Lamb at Applecross Veterinary Hospital who quickly determined the feces Bentley ingested had contained unknown drugs.
“I would suspect that there had been some sort of amphetamine in there and his later clinical signs were much more consistent with a marijuana toxicity,” said Lamb.
Bentley was treated with an IV and had his system flushed but it took about 30 minutes for him to recover. Doctor Lamb says this is more common than people think.
“When humans are using recreational drugs, they’re less conscious of where they defecate,” she added.
Which is worrisome and came as a surprise to other people watching their dogs in the same wooded area.
“That’s pretty scary, I worry about mushrooms, I never thought of that and most animals, unfortunately, eat things they shouldn’t,” said Shirley Partridge.
Edwards says homeless drug users who frequent the park are responsible.
“And now you’re inflicting this on to my dog? This has become way too much,” he said.
The park is also across the street from the temporary supportive housing project where people from tent city will start moving into Friday. Edwards says it will make the situation in the park even worse, but the mayor disagrees.
“As a pet owner I’m very sympathetic to harm coming to any animals,” said Leonard Krog.
“My view is the exact opposite will happen if you actually house people, they’re not going to have to be living in the forested areas of this community which is why I’m a proponent of supportive housing in our community.”
Dean Stoltz
