Vets: Keep marijuana away from dogs

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - A dog's nose is a work of wonder. Inside every snout are 300 million different receptors. The parts of a canine's brain devoted to smells are about 40 times stronger than humans'. So you never know what scent it might pick up on city streets.

For Betsy Gotbaum, the result wasn't good. She says she went to the park with her puppy for a couple of hours and when he came back he was "hyper" and "crazy," she says. The next morning, the 5-month-old puppy was groggy and out of it, so she rushed to the vet's office, which did a lot of tests. A drug test detected THC, a compound of marijuana that is very toxic particularly to young dogs. Marijuana, really? Gotbaum, the former New York City public advocate, swears that she doesn't smoke. The pot must have come from the nearby park.

Dr. Ann Hohenhaus is the staff vet at the Animal Medical Center. She says that often canines eat baked goods with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. And it happens much more often than you would think.

If dogs aren't ingesting THC orally, they could be exposed from second-hand smoke. Smoking of any kind near an animal is a dumb idea and a big issue.

Gotbaum says New Yorkers need to be careful with marijuana and to not drop it where dogs can eat it.