Miami, FL - When police officer Chad Blaze was out walking the jet black 14-month-old Havanese he had recently adopted from a local animal shelter, the last thing on his mind was the possibility of a fentanyl overdose. But thanks to his training with the Miami Police Department, and the six doses of Narcan that he always keeps in the pockets of his relaxed-fit utility cargo pants, both Corporal Blaze and Chauncey survived. And today they are sharing their experience in the hopes of educating dog owners on the dangers of fentanyl exposure.
"We had just gotten to the dog park near my condo when it happened," Blaze explained. "Chauncey began to act erratically after sniffing one of the other dogs, pulling on the leash and barking. He was afraid for his life and began to panic, and he was breathing faster than usual with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. I was scared, but that's when the training kicked in."
In the line of duty, Corporal Blaze has had more than his fair share of experience with this dangerous and mysterious drug, which some police toxicologists believe is like heroin on crack, and then on steroids. In addition to suffering from one of the first known cases of mosquito-borne fentanyl overdose, Blaze continues to have chronic fentanyl overdose symptoms almost two years later. "I've come a long way, but knowing that there are traces of fentanyl still somewhere in my body that could strike at any moment is enough to give me a panic attack. And I worry about Chauncey because we just don't know much about the effects of fentanyl on dogs, because there aren't doctors for animals."
I never thought of it before, but what explains dogs so committed to sniffing each other's nasty behinds but addiction?