GA: Addicts abusing dogs to score drugs

Addicts abusing dogs to score drugs

by: Tom Regan Updated: Feb 19, 2017 - 10:37 AM

There is a frightening new twist in the opioid epidemic.

With doctors more skeptical of prescribing pain medication, Channel 2’s Tom Regan discovered some addicts are abusing their pets to score drugs.

"We're trained to look for signs of abuse," Buckhead veterinarian Dr. Duffy Jones said.

Jones says he and his staff members at Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital take a critical look at injured dogs and increasingly, the behavior of their owners.

"Looking for these types of behaviors where injuries to pets don't really match up with how the owner describes what happened," Jones said.

That's because dogs are becoming helpless victims in the opioid crisis as addicts turn to Tramadol. Tramadol is a painkiller commonly prescribed by veterinarians.

"We are very careful about that drug. Where we dispense it, why we're dispensing it, and how often people can refill it,” Jones said.

The extreme measures dog owners have taken to get the drug and the startling confession from one woman, Tuesday on Channel 2 Action News at 5 p.m.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2-investigates/addicts-abusing-dogs-to-score-drugs/495205085