DRUGS ARE SUSPECTED IN PUP'S ILLNESS

A Jack Russel terrier is recovering from what may have been some kind of
illicit drugs he ate at Albert Dyck park this week.

Six-year-old Terrence was out for a morning walk at the park Wednesday with
his owner, Abbotsford resident Chantal Caron.

"There were a bunch of dogs [and their owners] and he went into some bushes
east of the parking lot. He was in there with another dog and I think they
found something interesting because they were in there for quite awhile,"
said Caron.

Judging from what he threw up later, he might have eaten human feces, said
Caron, who is a dog trainer. He wouldn't normally eat feces, she said, but
there must have been something "interesting" in what he found.

Caron took the dog home, where he fell asleep.

"He threw up all over himself in his sleep and was jerking. At first I
thought he was having a seizure," she said.

Caron took the dog to her friend and long-time veterinarian, Mary Plishke,
whose office is in North Vancouver. The vet told Caron whatever it was
would eventually work through the dog's system.

Caron said the veterinarian suspected it was some kind of drugs, based on
similar cases she had seen before, but would need lab tests

"He seemed stoned. He's staggering and when you come close to him, he
jerks. He's having a bad trip," said Caron.

Caron is concerned partiers are leaving behind all kinds of debris that
could be dangerous to the many dogs that are taken to the park. She said
partiers have been using the park, leaving behind broken glass from tossed
liquor bottles and now she suspects they may be leaving behind "samples"
which contain drugs.

"There's a lot of broken glass there. They come in and burn rubber in the
parking lot, even in the day. I want to see it stopped," said Caron.

However, Mark Taylor, director of parks and recreation for the City of
Abbotsford, said problems were snuffed out early last summer.

"We had reports early last summer and the police pounced on it. There was a
lot of liquor poured out. That stops the kids pretty fast," he said Thursday.

Taylor said he toured Albert Dyck Park two weeks ago.

"It was looking particularly clean. I saw no evidence of [broken bottles],"
he said Thursday.