A small dog which fell sick after unwittingly consuming meth while on a walk in central Auckland is on the road to recovery.
Three-year-old Fleur, a Norwich Terrier, came home from the vet yesterday evening after accidentally ingesting the drug while walking on Greys Ave.
“[She’s] still very wobbly and on anti-seizure meds,” owner Victoria Spence said.
“She’s also tested positive for MDMA - didn’t expect that, but apparently, meth gets cut with all sorts.”
In a new video, Fleur can be seen leaving the vet clinic, excitedly running up to Spence and wagging her tail.
During the warm reunion, the dog jumped up to greet her owner and smothered her in licks while whining in happiness.
Last Thursday, the 7kg terrier began acting strangely after returning home from her usual walk around Auckland’s central city streets.
“She started pacing and whining and crying and growling. She was really hyperactive and frightened and didn’t seem to know who we were. Like, really tripping balls,” Spence said.
Fleur quickly deteriorated and Spence rang the vet, who advised her to bring the dog in straight away.
“As soon as they saw her, they said it looked like a human drug reaction, not bacterial or gastric. This was a massive neurological change.”
The vet monitored Fleur and attempted to put her on an IV drip, subsequently sedating her and putting cotton wool over her eyes and ears due to her frantic movements.
It wasn’t until Fleur was transferred to a specialist vet centre, where a street drugs test was conducted, that it was confirmed she had ingested methamphetamine.
By Saturday morning, Fleur was still testing positive for methamphetamine and under sedation. The drug was expected to be in her system for 72 hours.
“She’s such an innocent, really sweet little dog, and it’s such an evil thing to happen to such a lovely creature.”
Spence said she wanted to alert other dog owners who walk their pets in the area and to raise awareness of the rising use of methamphetamine in the city.
“I’m really concerned about the fact there’s so much meth in central Auckland,” she said.
“What do young families do with children who are playing? You really want to encourage them to be playing in parks and to be living a normal life, and it just strikes me that I just could never have imagined that something like this could be possible.”
Spence said it is really endemic in the community.
“That flows on to that it could well be dropped, or that it could be bong water, or it could be vomit or whatever. You just now have to assume that it could be contaminated with methamphetamine.
“The extreme weirdness of it is what has been really shocking, and the terrible, terrible effects on a loved family pet.”
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