Police Dogs Can Overdose Too, Narcan Can Save Them

ST. CHARLES, MO — Imagine your job consists of sniffing out cocaine, heroine and other dangerous narcotics on a daily basis. Now, imagine your nose is 40 times more sensitive than a human's, and you weigh only as much as an average 10-year-old. For a police dog, the danger of a drug overdose is extremely real. But, Fox 2 St. Louis reports the St. Charles Police Department is taking steps to keep their K-9s safe.

K-9 officers in St. Charles are now carrying Narcan, a medication used to block the effects of opioids and bring people — and now animals — back from the brink of an overdose. It can be injected or sprayed up the nose and it works in minutes.

"We treat [our dogs] like any police officer and look out for their safety at all times," Lt. Tom Wilkison told Fox 2. He said St. Charles officers started carrying Narcan a year ago and have saved dozens of human lives since then. So far, they haven't needed to use it on a dog.

Read more from Fox 2.

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