Woman pleads with cannabis smokers after dog gets sick on walk

It's the second time Stephanie Lisk's one-year-old golden retriever Chester ingested what she believes was cannabis while on a walk through Powerline Park in Upper Mission.

"I spent much of the night crying and worried about Chester and what we would do if he got worse," she explains.

Lisk says she knew Chester had ingested cannabis immediately because of his symptoms. The dog became wobbly, wouldn't stand, and his head was shaking.

"He started throwing up, my husband noticed a very strong odour of marijuana coming, unfortunately, from his vomit," Lisk explains.

Her husband called the vet and told them about Chester's symptoms and the vet confirmed it was likely the dog ingested marijuana.

Last year, Fairfield Animal Hospital told Castanet they saw a spike in dogs getting sick from ingesting cannabis since the pandemic started.

Dr. Jennifer Watt said most cases of cannabis toxicity resolve in the matter of days. The most common cause of canine cannabis calls for a veterinarian are after a dog gobbles up the end of an old discarded joint, making them ill. But the increasing popularity of edibles like cookies and gummies are also tempting for dogs. There is no evidence that marijuana causes permanent effects in dogs.

After her scare, Lisk is pleading with cannabis smokers to be more careful of how they dispose of their remnants.

"I recognize it's legal – it isn't legal in public places such as parks. So it shouldn't be happening anyway," she continues. "I know that's hard to enforce but if you are going to do that, please dispose of your materials afterwards so that dogs, children, no one else has any harmful effects from it."

Dogs actually like the smell and taste of cannabis and will seek it out, so it's important to be cognizant when tossing your finished joints.