Dogs Reportedly Getting High On Drug Users' Poop In Berlin Parks

Dogs Overdosing On Drug Addicts' Poop In Parks?

That's some bad s--t.

Dogs are overdosing on drug addicts' poop left in Berlin's parks, the German Local wrote from a report in Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

The city's veterinarians reportedly have noticed an increase in dogs being treated after eating human excrement in the public spaces, which are frequented by junkies who often defecate in the bushes. Tests indicated the pooches -- which were dehydrated, struggled to walk and had a rapid heartbeat -- were under the influence of heroin and other drugs found in the stools.

While fatal cases have been rare, vet Reinhold Sassnau said in the report that canines can be given a vomit-inducing drug to clear the feces, or they can be held at the clinic to recover.

One stateside expert expressed surprise at the report. "Most illicit drugs are going to the urine and not the feces," Karyn Bischoff, a veterinarian specializing in analytical toxicology at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, explained to The Huffington Post. "I wouldn't expect there to be enough [in the feces] to cause a crisis."

Bischoff theorized that perhaps the dogs "found somebody's stash" and ingested it.

There's actually a name for dogs consuming animal waste. It's called coprophagia. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, coprophagia "isn't considered abnormal, just undesirable. Many dogs will also ingest human feces if given the opportunity."

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot