MADISON - Trooper Darrick Lorbecki
leaned down to his partner and scratched the Belgian Malinois' ears as
the pup looked up to the one person he knows he can trust with his life.
Lord
wagged his tail, closing his eyes as his tongue licked his black
nose. While Lorbecki's tools of his trade include weapons and
electronics, Lord has just one investigative tool, and in some ways it's
much more sophisticated than the high-tech gear officers carry.
His nose.
But
it's Lord's nose, and those of all narcotics-sniffing dogs that are
putting them at risk of accidental overdoses from the skyrocketing use
of dangerous synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which is deadlier than
heroin, and carfentanil, which can kill a human with only a few
salt-size grains absorbed through the skin.
It's a
little-known side effect of the opioid epidemic that working dogs like
Lord are at high risk of accidentally overdosing while on the job. With
their incredible sense of smell — thousands of times better than humans —
narcotics-sniffing dogs such as Lord are on the front lines of the
opioid epidemic.
In December, when all State Patrol
troopers were trained to administer Narcan, the nasal spray that
counteracts opioid overdoses, to humans, the eight troopers who work
with dogs also learned how to use it on their four-legged partners.
Now the medical bags Wisconsin State Patrol K9 handlers carry for their dogs all include Narcan doses.
At the four-hour
training session, the State Patrol dog handlers were taught to look for
the signs of an overdose, to quickly administer Narcan and then drive
quickly to the nearest veterinary hospital.
"Basically
it's the same for humans; we're trained to shoot the Narcan into their
nose," Lorbecki said in a recent interview at a State Patrol facility in
Madison. "Hearing about all the working dogs overdosing, you hope it
doesn't happen to you or anybody else."
Among the
reports of police dogs overdosing were three in Broward County, Florida,
who became ill after searching a home used by someone suspected of
selling heroin laced with fentanyl in 2016. The three dogs became
listless, stopped responding to their handlers, refused to drink water
and had trouble standing. One of the dogs began hyperventilating and
passed out but was revived with Narcan.
Read and see more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2018/02/19/police-dogs-risk-accidental-overdose-opioid-epidemic/341609002/
Poor doggies, exploited by humans. Where's the ASPCA on this? We'll probably have to pay for nose transplants in the future.
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