Overdoses caused by synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl and carfentanil, have become a major issue.

Fentanyl, a potent painkiller used to treat cancer patients, is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and is often diverted and misused as a street drug.

Carfentanil, on the other hand, is an opioid often used by veterinarians to treat large animals, such as elephants, and is not for human use. In particular, carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 more potent than morphine.

Because of this potency, the risks of accidental overdose and death are (unsurprisingly) much higher than those associated with other drugs. Here’s a photo showing lethal amounts:

Police departments around the world have had to change their search protocols since these drugs have become more prominent.

A lethal dosage of carfentanil is only 20 micrograms – which New Hampshire Public Radio described as “as tiny as a snowflake.” It can also be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes – which means one accidental touch and you’re in for a serious emergency. The Drug Enforcement Administration even noted it would be a “grave threat to law enforcement officials and first responders,” and that includes their four-legged K9 partners.

In 2016, after assisting police in a Broward County drug raid, three K9s began showing symptoms of overdose. Investigators had mistakenly assumed there would be no fentanyl at the location because they had arrested the supplier weeks before the search. Police even did a preliminary sweep of the location to ensure it would be safe, but these types of drugs can be terrifyingly invisible. “If fentanyl is loose in an environment, it can spread out where a dog can absorb it through his pads,” explained Andy Weiman, the head of dog training for the Broward County Sherriff’s Office.

“Fentanyl is so toxic, so strong that the very smallest amount of it – that you couldn’t even see – could affect the dog. You wouldn’t know they’ve even ingested it.”

Dr. Ashley Mitek, a veterinarian at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine told LexiPol, “The interesting thing to me is that working dogs have been detecting and working with police officers for over 100 years, and we haven’t really seen any evidence of toxicities from inhaled compounds in the line of duty. But that has been completely changed for the worse now that there are two drugs on the street, fentanyl and carfentanil, and those compounds are significantly more potent than heroin.”

So, what does this all mean for our K9 officers?

Well, there are currently no hazmat suits or masks that can be worn by our four-footed friends, and the American Veterinary Medical Association says no agencies currently collect statistics regarding the overdoses of police dogs. Still, however, certain changes are starting to be made. For instance, K9s in Colorado and Maryland have all been equipped with Narcan, the overdose-reversal drug. Illinois also now has a law that allows ambulances to transport police dogs when not transporting human patients.

The author of a 2018 article in The Atlantic stated that no experts had been able to name one single K9 officer that had died as a result of a fentanyl overdose, which may be attributed to the fact that it takes 20 times more fentanyl to affect a dog compared to a human. Now that carfentanil has also hit the scene, however, the risk of death seems to be much more prominent.

Al Kisner, a former deputy from the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, has stated that his department’s K9s now remain on their leads when entering a home as opposed to being able to run freely like before. Additionally, Dr. Mitek recommends that all K9s involved in drug searches be monitored closely for thirty to sixty minutes after leaving the location; meanwhile Cynthia Otto, the executive director of the Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania, also recommends teaching K9s “passive alerts,” such as sitting and staring, as opposed to active ones where the dog may come into physical contact with the drugs themselves.

Learn more in the video below.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Sources: Ottawa Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Hampshire Public Radio, Drug Enforcement Administration, Lexipol, NBC News, The Atlantic, WVNews, American Veterinary Medical Association, WSB-TV