Dog dies of opioid overdose after visiting St. Catharines park

Joanne Hubley from St. Catharines is devasted after her dog died of an opioid overdose less than 24 hours after visiting a local park.

Hubley says her dog must have stepped on or sniffed the lethal drugs and wants other pet owners to beware.

Last Friday, Hubley decided on a change of scenery for her daily walk with her seven-year-old dog Sampson. They went to Glenridge Quarry next to Brock University but hours later Hubley noticed Sampson acting strangely.

Hubley immediately took him to an emergency vet clinic.

Initially, workers at the veterinarian clinic thought that Sampson may have ingested some sort of cannabis product so she went home and continued to monitor her dog. Hours later things got worse.

Hubley took Sampson back to the clinic where Sampson’s urine was tested for drugs. The test came back positive for opioids and Hubley was told it was likely fentanyl or heroin.

The vet administered naloxone four times to try to save the dog from overdosing, but nothing worked. Hubley says within hours her sweet dog was brain-dead and had to be euthanized.

“This is a complete tragedy, a complete tragedy. I don’t know what could have been done,” Hubley said.

The vet clinic says unfortunately, they have seen these kinds of overdoses before.

Hubley says she was told Sampson likely inhaled the drug or stepped on drug paraphernalia. She has reported the incident to the police.

Hubley hopes by spreading Sampson’s story she hopes he can save other pets, “Sampson’s death doesn’t need to be in vain he’s now going to be rescuing someone else.”