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Thursday, June 23, 2016

Potent fentanyl has K-9 units taking extra precaution

BALTIMORE —It's a common scenario with police when an officer and their K-9 unit search for drugs.

However, it is now a scenario that has law enforcement taking as much precaution as ever.

The Baltimore police are aware of the dangers their K-9's face. This includes K-9's Lucian and Clint, who are considered as close as family to those with them in the department.

"It's the same as going into a building looking for somebody that it is with a human," said Steve Sturm, training supervisor with the Baltimore Police Department. "He's watching my back and I'm watching his back."

Now, along with tradition illegal drugs like marijuana and cocaine, dogs are also in search of synthetic fentanyl, which could make the search as dangerous as ever. That is because the drug not only can be absorbed through touch, but by airborne powder which can be dangerous and even deadly.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If a dog touched a fentanyl patch with his nose nothing would happen lol. Now if they bit into it that would be a different story. My 110lb lab was recently prescribed 75mcg fentanyl patches for bad arthritis in his hips. I was skeptical at first, and even kind of nervous but the vet assured me it was OK and its becoming widespread practice. The patches work great for him and he's up moving around. He was previously on gabapentin and it made him like a dog zombie. If he has to be a opiod dependent dog for his last couple of years fine by me, its better than he was a couple months ago.