'We thought he had a stroke': Family warns after dog eats marijuana

An Arlington family thought their dog was having a stroke, but it turns out Spencer ingested something that contained, THC, the chemical in marijuana that creates a "high."

Seven-year-old Spencer, a playful rescue, is cherished by his owners. On Wednesday afternoon, Mary Horgan and her daughter Maggie fed him treats, but last Thursday, Spencer came across something else he thought was edible.

Horgan says that her husband was walking Spencer along the Arlington Reservoir when he ate something, and they didn't think anything of it, until that night.

"Came home, and he was fine until about 10:30 at night," said Horgan. "He wasn't able to walk properly, his legs were buckling under him."

Spencer was taken to a Woburn animal hospital and the veterinarian confirmed Spencer had consumed THC and gave him fluids.

"For most of the next day he was still very skittish, sensitive to light, not himself," said Horgan.

A doctor with MSPCA's Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston says THC symptoms could mirror those of a stroke. The vet says he sees a case a day of a pet on THC, something that's been reported more commonly since recreational marijuana became legal.

Mary is glad to have the old Spencer back, but has a stern message for those using recreational marijuana, "I support legal use of marijuana for adults, medical marijuana. I just would like it if people were as careful as they could be because this kind of thing is pretty awful."

>> More from the Cannabis Control Commission: Safe marijuana storage

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