Sheriff's K9 Exposed To Heroin; Requires Narcan

OREGON CITY, OR — Abbie, a Clackamas County Sheriff's Office K9, reportedly ingested heroin while conducting a routine contraband search at the Clackamas County jail with her handler, Deputy Eliseo Ramos, on Tuesday. Narrowly avoiding a tragedy, Abbie was rescued by another K9 handler who administered a special version of the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan, made specifically for dogs.

According to CCSO officials, Abbie and Ramos were patrolling the jail's E block around 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 when the K9 began tracking what turned out to be smuggled heroin stashed on top of a hygiene container that was underneath a table. As Abbie sniffed out the heroin, the container tipped and spilled the heroin, officials said.

Afterward, Abbie reportedly began showing signs of heroin exposure, which included excessive salivation, rapid head shaking, and rapid blinking.

Fortunately, officials said, another CCSO K9 handler delivered the special dog-specific version of Narcan for Ramos to administer nasally to the suffering 2-year-old Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd.

Narcan reportedly works to reverse overdose symptoms caused by opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil. The sheriff's office was able to purchase the six Narcan kits for dogs in February thanks to public donations, officials said.

The K9 Narcan kits reportedly came from Texas-based nonprofit K9s of Valor, which assists law enforcement K9 units across the country with a variety of K9-centric tools and materials.

(Sign up for our free daily newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Oregon City Patch)

After Abbie was given the Narcan, she was taken to VCA Animal Hospital for further treatment. Abbie was reportedly released from VCA with a clean bill of health Wednesday morning.