Colorado Golden Retriever Gets Sick Consuming Letfover Marijuana, Pet Owner Calls for Responsible Pot Use

By Monica Antonio

A 10-year-old golden retriever from Colorado named Chance got sick after eating edible marijuana. Her owner, Patty Moore, is calling pot users to be more careful.

According to Moore, Chance found the leftover edible marijuana after a 4/20 rally when she was walking the golden retriever in a neighborhood park. After the dog consumed the weed, she showed strange behavior such as the inability to stand as if "her legs didn't work at all," CNN reported.

“She couldn’t get back downstairs. It was like her legs didn’t work at all," Moore told CBS Denver.

“We really thought there was something seriously wrong with her."

Chance's vet also confirmed that she ingested marijuana. The golden retriever showed some telltale signs of marijuana consumption such as drunkness, depression, and looking stupefied. Other effects of weed on animals include unsteady gait, dribbling urine and saliva, and oversensitivity to sound, light and movement.

According to Dr. Allison Jenkins of the Highlands Animal Clinic, stoned pets is not a rare occurrence. In fact, there are about five to six pets accidentally getting high from marijuana every week. Dogs eating marijuana is not that dangerous and has lighter side effects than consuming ibuprofen or other prescription drugs. However, it may be fatal if they consumed concentrated amounts of THC or large quantities or marijuana products.

The buzz from the marijuana usually lasts for several days, and vets could induce vomiting if the weed was taken in edible forms. A previous report from the A.S.P.C.A.'s animal poison control center also revealed that there has been a 144 percent increase in the number of pet dogs experiencing marijuana overdose from 2010 to 2015.

"We always used to joke about treating marijuana with fluids and Doritos and Pink Floyd," Tina Wismer, director of the animal poison control center, said. "But we have had some serious intoxication - animals that become comatose, with extremely low blood pressure."

Chance has fully recovered, but in light of the recent incident, Moore calls for marijuana users to be more responsible.

“Just so that people are more aware how their habits can affect other people and animals," she said.