WATCH: Another dog on Vancouver Island has been accidentally poisoned after eating cannabis. Eddy was exploring her favourite park in Saanich when she got into some discarded cannabis and very quickly started showing symptoms of an overdose. As Kori Sidaway tells us, her owner’s now warning others to pay extra attention to their pets.
Judy James and her two and a half-year-old pup, Eddy, are back in their favourite park.
It’s their first visit back to Cedar Hill Corner since Eddy became gravely ill.
“She’s always sniffing and picking things up and by the time you’ve seen that she has something in her mouth it’s too late to try and stop it,” said James.
The rambunctious double doodle is like any other dog her age. But last week, curiosity nearly killed the pooch.
James saw Eddy with something in her mouth, but before getting to her, Eddy had gulped it down.
“About two hours later… I noticed that she was very, very, sensitive to any stimulus and was almost having a seizure,” said James.
She rushed her dog to a nearby animal hospital where she found out Eddy was suffering from marijuana toxicity.
“She wouldn’t eat a cigarette end, why would she eat a marijuana end?” asked James.
“Apparently they like the sweet taste. And [the vet] said, it happens all the time.”
An emergency veterinarian at Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital told James they have been seeing an increasing number of pets suffering from cannabis toxicity through their doors.
In just September of 2018, we reported on Leon, a french bulldog puppy who started having seizures on a B.C. Ferry after consuming marijuana left in the designated pet area.
And it’s not just here on the Island. Pet Poison Helpline says they’ve experienced a 448 per cent increase in pet marijuana toxicity cases.
And depending on the dose, it can be deadly.
“I just really want people to be aware of the implications,” said James.
“I’ve got nothing against people smoking marijuana at all but I just think that if you’re responsible with your ends, or your cookies or your edibles, people probably don’t realize how much dogs go for it.”
Meanwhile, Judy will likely be walking her best friend with extra supervision from now on.
Kori Sidaway
