Photo: Fentanyl and related drugs; Source Sun Sentinel.
Three police K-9s of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office were sickened from likely getting a whiff of fentanyl while searching a house in Lauderhill, according to a Sun Sentinel news report.
K-9 Officer Primus, a German short-haired Pointer, and two other K-9s, Finn and Packer, were conducting a search of a residence for drugs and money, when they began acting strangely.
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Detective Andy Weiman trained Primus, and was working with his handler at the time. Weiman reported that after the search, Primus did not appear to be his high-energy, excitable self, and “was in kind of a sedated state.”
Primus, Finn, and Packer were taken to the Coral Springs Animal Hospital after they began showing signs of a possible drug overdose. While en route, other law enforcement agents discovered a bag of drugs that tested positived for fentanyl‑a synthetic opiate up to 100 times more potent than morphine.
Inhaling even a small amount of fentanyl can prove lethal. Fortunately, the three K-9s received treatment, including an antidote, and returned to duty the following day.