By Ashley Wiebe

Pets being told ‘paws off’ ahead of marijuana legalization

Apr 26, 2017 | 4:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The legalization of marijuana expected next year will make it easier to access cannabis, but there’s always the potential of it ending up in the wrong hands.

Animals are curious by nature and are constantly sniffing and licking anything they find.

Sometimes, taking something that doesn’t belong to them even becomes a game.

“Anything shiny, rings, when I’m wearing my glasses, he tries to take my glasses off, the keys I wear on my side,” said Rob Andreas about his scarlet macaw, Skittles.

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Andreas, owner and operator of Animal World, says his two and a half year old parrot is always looking for something to play with, even if it’s not meant as a toy.

“Everything he wants to play with isn’t necessarily the safest for him,” he said. “If I took him out [of his cage], the first thing he’d go after is the buttons on my shirt, which he’d pop off with a lot of ease and then I’d have to fight him to get it back out of his mouth.”

If Skittles swallows something he shouldn’t, he could be on his way to the emergency room, something Andreas tries to avoid at all costs.

“It’s all about preventative measures when you’re dealing with animals, looking at things that are going to cause problems and saving the animal from that,” Andreas said.

With the impending legalization of cannabis, it’s just one more thing pets can get their paws on.

But it’s something Marena Goehring with Cypress View Veterinary Clinic has already seen.

Goehring said the symptoms are similar to the ones experienced by humans, including dilated pupils and red eyes, but there’s one tell tale sign to look for with dogs.

“They just walk around dribbling urine, so it’s usually at that point that we start to ask ‘is there any possibility your dog has gotten into marijuana?’” she said.

Goehring said it’s important owners are honest with their veterinarian, if their pet got into something they shouldn’t have.

“What we can do is, if we can induce vomiting then that’s great and then we keep an eye on it,” she added. “If the peak effects are happening and the dogs getting worse and worse, we can put them on IV fluids to help flush that out of their system.”

The legislation will make it more available and easier to sniff out.

But Andreas and Goehring agree the best cure is prevention, and keeping it out of harms way.

“If you’re going to have it in the house, have it somewhere where the dogs aren’t going to get into it,” Goerhing said. “Up in a cupboard high, away. And you know it’s fast. You take it down for a second, they scoop it off the counter while you’ve got your back turned. It can happen that fast.”