Dog Clings to Life After Cocaine Poisoning

February 18, 2008

GRAND RAPIDS, Mi. – A couple in Michigan are the new owners of Cookie, a two year-old dog who is struggling to survive after ingesting an unknown amount of cocaine.

Vets say they aren’t sure if the jindo-mix was given the drug or if she somehow got into her previous owner’s stash. Either way, the narcotic has done serious damage to her nervous system, making the joys of being a dog a thing of the past.

“There obviously was something neurologically wrong with this dog,” Supervising Animal Control Officer Matt Pepper said. “It was horribly sad to watch.”

Pepper said the dog was shaking uncontrollably and unstable when he first found her just more than a year ago in front of her drug-toting owner’s home.

Cookie, whose name was changed from Cocaine III, now has a new home and a loving family. Her current owners asked not to be named for fear that the original owner is looking for the dog. They say they’re doing everything they can for her, but aren’t sure what kind of future she’ll have.

When animal control found Cookie in November 2006, she could barely walk. Since then, she’s undergone treatment, but her situation continues to worsen.

“She’s losing muscle tone even though she’s eating,” her new owner said.

The vet who cared for Cookie says when she first saw the dog, she was lying on her chest, unable to lift her head.

“She looked like she had no energy,” Veterinarian Joan Koelzer said. “Yet she wagged her tail when I said ‘Hi’ to her. Then I thought ‘This dog is going to make it. She has the spirit.’ ”

Koelzer went on to say that Cookie, who was a puppy at the time, resembled a human with Parkinson’s disease. As a result of the damage, she has to wear a diaper and weighs only 27 pounds. She should weigh around 35 pounds.

Still, her new owners are hopeful that the young dog will regain her strength, somehow.

For now, Cookie spends her days with the couple’s two other dogs – Gordon setters who run and play while Cookie watches, hoping to catch one of her new siblings with a furtive face-lick as they romp by her.

The man responsible for the dog’s condition was sentenced in May for animal neglect and other charges and is on probation for a year. He’s not allowed to own an animal and has been ordered to pay $3,500 in restitution for Cookie’s vet bills, too.

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Special thanks to the Grand Rapids Press for contributions to this story.