A family is distressed after their dog was hospitalized for ingesting methamphetamine while walking at a local Anaheim park.
On Thursday night, Amy Robbins took her dog, Abbey, a 12-year-old Chihuahua mix, for a short walk from their home to Stoddard Park located at 1901 9th Street.
After visiting the park, they went back home. However, that’s when Robbins said Abbey began acting strangely.
“She was standing very statue-like,” Robbins recalled. “She just stood there for hours, just staring up at the ceiling in my bedroom. That is not like her at all.”
Robbins became increasingly worried. Her husband asked if the dog had eaten anything out of the ordinary during their walk.
“I was like, ‘You know what? She did sniff something. She licked the floor,’” Robbins said. “I went right back down to the park to where it had happened. I looked all around the floor and I found weed.”
Several hours passed by and Abbey’s behavior became more erratic.
“She’s zooming all over the house and can’t stay still,” Robbins said. “She was looking everywhere. I can’t get her to calm down. She was very in distress. She was very anxious.”
Robbins rushed Abbey to an emergency veterinary clinic and told the staff her dog had possibly ingested marijuana.
Upon further examination, however, the veterinarian suspected weed was not involved and asked to run a full blood panel test on Abbey.
“He comes back a few minutes later and he’s like, ‘We found meth in your dog. The test results came back positive for meth,’” she said. “My mouth just dropped.”
The vet said Abbey was at risk of going into cardiac arrest and would need to be hospitalized overnight.
“I was leaving her behind and I didn’t know if I was going to see her again,” Robbins said.
The next morning, Robbins went to the Anaheim Police Department to file a report on the presence of drugs at the neighborhood park. However, she claimed officers were not eager to help or investigate.
“They took down all the details,” she said. “They took down my phone number and then they said, ‘Okay, we’re taking down your phone number, but don’t expect a call from us. We’re not going to do anything about it.’”
Frustrated and upset, Robbins said she went back to the park and spotted drug-related debris that she cleaned up.
“This is the neighborhood park,” Robbins said in disbelief. “People take their dogs on walks here. There is an elementary school right on the other side.”
Since the park has a playground and is in close proximity to a school, Robbins wondered what would’ve happened had a child accidentally ingested the methamphetamine or other narcotics that were littered on the ground.
“There are cars parked on the curb all day,” she said. “There are also homeless encampments all throughout the park. I don’t know if people there are using [drugs].”
As for Abbey, she was treated and is expected to recover. Robbins said the ordeal wreaked havoc on her family emotionally and financially. Abbey spent two nights in the hospital and the bill for her treatment had surged to over $2,000.
“I put it all on my credit card,” Robbins said. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay it all off. I will figure it out. It definitely cost me a lot of stress and money, but I’m just glad that Abbey’s okay. I would’ve paid $1 million if it meant saving her life. I cannot imagine my life without her.”
Robbins said she hopes her story will serve as a warning to other dog owners to be on the lookout the next time they bring their dogs to Stoddard Park.
An Anaheim city spokesperson released a statement on the incident saying:
“Our thoughts go out to Abbey and her family. Our parks are patrolled by Anaheim Police, park rangers and security guards and are cleaned daily. Drugs are never allowed in Anaheim parks. [The] blame here lies with an irresponsible drug user. Sadly, this is an issue larger than our city and reflects California’s drug crisis. We welcome a broader discussion on laws and consequences for public use of methamphetamine and other drugs.”