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Home / World

Rottweiler dog fed cannabis gummy, mauls owner and is euthanised

NZ Herald
29 Oct, 2023 10:14 PM3 mins to read

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Ian Foster says he will miss walking up to the coach's box, police staff explain their communications during the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attacks and it is becoming impossible to provide medical aid to people who need it in Gaza. Video / NZ Herald / Getty / AP

A US woman suffered horrific injuries when her pet Rottweiler attacked her after she fed him an edible cannabis product.

The attack occurred earlier this month in the Michigan town of Gaylord and led to the woman almost losing her right arm and the dog, named Blau, losing his life.

Animal control officers responding to reports of a dog attack detailed the horror that confronted them, laying bare the bloody scene in documents obtained by The Smoking Gun website.

Arriving at the home on October 5, officers found Blau, a 2-year-old Rottweiler that weighed 37kg, in a “subdued” state.

After Blau was secured in the kitchen, one officer went down the hallway and noticed “an immense amount” of blood on the floor and walls.

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The victim then yelled out from the bedroom and was discovered lying face-up on the bed, covered in blood.

The officer reported that, despite the room being semi-dark, they could still see an “extreme” amount of blood on the bed, walls and floor.

Blau the rottweiler being held by animal control after the attack. Photo / Otsego County Animal Control
Blau the rottweiler being held by animal control after the attack. Photo / Otsego County Animal Control

The victim’s father then rushed to meet his daughter. She was transported to the local airport for a mercy dash to a local hospital via helicopter.

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The documents state that the father told Animal Control that his daughter was going through a bad divorce and “the dog was very stressed”. He said he bought gummies infused with THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, to calm the animal.

One-hour attack

The victim later told officers that she had fed Blau a gummy that morning and he had later come into the bathroom while she was on the toilet, ripping her from the seat and launching an attack.

She reportedly fought the dog off for an hour before struggling to the bedroom, locking herself in and leaving Blau to roam the house.

The victim was badly injured in the incident, almost losing her right arm with “not much left of the area between her shoulder and elbow”.

The pomegranate-flavoured gummies. Photo / Otsego County Animal Control
The pomegranate-flavoured gummies. Photo / Otsego County Animal Control

A week later the victim, now recovering at her father’s home, signed a form to have Blau euthanised.

Her estranged husband then asked if he could “rescue” the dog and after being told that animal control opposed such a move, offered to shoot it himself.

He then agreed to have Blau humanely euthanised, The Smoking Gun reported.

The badly-injured victim then had a brief farewell with Blau on October 16 before her pet was taken to the vet and put down.

The American Kennel Club warns that cases of cannabis poisoning in dogs have been on the rise since the drug was legalised in various states across the US.

They note that dogs have a “much more severe” reaction to the drug than humans, highlighting symptoms such as tremours, agitation and urinary incontinence.

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“The most interesting sign in dogs is urinary incontinence,” Dr Stacy Meola said in a post on the Kennel Club website, saying half of the dogs studied dribbled urine uncontrollably after ingesting cannabis.

“My guess is the drug would not be as popular if 50 per cent of people dribbled urine when they used marijuana!” Meola said.

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