A pit bull puppy was saved with an overdose-reversing drug after apparent fentanyl exposure inside its owner’s car.
The puppy was given Narcan after being exposed to fentanyl in California, police said.
Marylou Menke, 27, and Caleb Aaron Gibson, 29, were arrested for narcotics possession and felony animal cruelty on Wednesday in connection with the incident, Irvine Police Department said.
The incident began with a “consensual” encounter between the couple and police on Wednesday outside a Walmart, department spokesman Kyle Oldoerp said. After officers discovered fentanyl in their car, the two were arrested, he said.
Their pit bull puppy was inside the car when it began to show signs of an overdose from fentanyl.
“Then the female said, ‘Oh, I think my dog is overdosing,’” Mr Oldoerp told the Los Angeles Times on Saturday. “She knew the symptoms because it was the second time the dog had overdosed.”
The incident was captured in police body camera footage— (Irvine Police Department)
Police then went back to the station and quickly administered a dose of Narcan to the puppy, which made a “pretty quick” turnaround, Mr Oldoerp said.
He said it wasn’t immediately clear how the dog would have been exposed to the drug, which is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin, but police believe the puppy got into its owners’ fentanyl stash.
A dose as small as two milligrams can be fatal to a human, though dogs are less sensitive to the drug, according to experts.
“If they’re using drugs in their car, we can only speculate,” Mr Oldoerp said.
The dog was rushed to an emergency veterinarian and is fully recovering, police said.
The police department’s Animal Services Unit will take possession of the dog.
“We have asked the DA to charge the pair with felony animal cruelty and possession of narcotics,” police said in a Facebook post.
“We thank the officers for their swift actions.”
