A months-old dog was poisoned by brief contact with a suspicious substance at a Metro Vancouver park, the RCMP say.
According to Mounties, the dog came in contact with the substance in a "heavily wooded area" in Mundy Park in Coquitlam.
Officers were told that the four-month-old heartland terrier, named Wag, had merely touched the substance with his nose one day last week.
About 45 minutes later, police said in a news release Monday, Wag started to appear unsteady on his feet. He wavered and fell over, the RCMP said. The dog's owner rushed him to an emergency veterinary hospital.
Testing performed on the puppy showed he had ingested cannabis and an opiate.
Fortunately, he's recovered from the incident, but police say it serves as a reminder to other owners to be aware of their surroundings.
"With the weather starting to warm up and more people getting outdoors, the possibility of contact with suspicious substances, drugs or drug paraphernalia increases," the RCMP detachment said in the news release.
"Contact with any amount of drugs should be completely avoided and police should be notified."
Additionally, the RCMP said anyone who finds illicit drugs such as heroin or cocaine should leave the area and call police, through the non-emergency line, to let officers know what they found and where.
Substances should not be handled.
"Police would like to remind individuals that legalizing cannabis did not also legalize illicit drugs, or make it legal to consume or discard drugs in public," the Coquitlam RCMP said.
Legal substances including cannabis can cause serious harm to dogs. In one case, the Vancouver SPCA took in a young husky who was found to have high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main compound in cannabis that provides the high, in its system.
It took several days for the dog to recover from what the SPCA branch called "toxic levels" of cannabis, and it required medical treatment.
The SPCA said at the time that anyone who suspects their dog has ingested cannabis should take the pet to a veterinarian immediately, as it can be a "matter of life and death."
