'Junkie' Crows In Canadian City Administered With Naloxone After Suspected Drug Overdoses

An animal welfare group in the Canadian city of Prince George has been administering naloxone to junkie crows that are believed to have eaten toxic drugs left accessible in the downtown area. Dayna Slater of Good Caws Crow Rescue Society (GCCRS) stated that more than a dozen cases of crows ingesting the drugs have emerged this year alone, which is an alarming rise.

The NGO has posted multiple videos of its volunteers rescuing the crows and administering nasal naloxone to crows that seem unresponsive.

"Today, we received a crow from the courthouse area in downtown Prince George. It didn't take long to see the signs of drug ingestion," the NGO captioned one of the videos.

"Lethargy, slow heartbeat, brown liquid dripping from the beak. This is another accidental drug ingestion case. We immediately administered Nasal Narcan. He recovered fully within an hour and a half."

Speaking to CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton, Slater said it was 'disheartening' and 'scary' to see the crows struggling, adding that a "whole bunch of factors" had come together to make the 'perfect storm'.

"Their wings are spread out, their eyes are closed, their heartbeat slows right down. They're unresponsive but alive," is how she described the symptoms, adding some have a brown liquid foam coming out of their beaks.

While some died, Slater said most of the birds were able to be released after recovering within 24 hours. As per her, the crows are accessing the drugs which are mixed with garbage that is openly available downtown.

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Previous Instances

This is not the first instance when an animal has been reported to be under the influence. Last week, a monkey broke into a liquor store in Ranchi, Jharkhand, casually gulped half a bottle of alcohol and passed out right on the spot. Initially, the staff tried to shoo it away and even offered biscuits to distract it, but the monkey picked up a bottle of vodka, broke it open, and consumed the alcohol.

Shortly after drinking, it lay down on a carton of liquor inside the shop in a drowsy state and fell asleep. Bystanders were left astonished by the monkey's antics. It remained unconscious inside the shop for quite some time after consuming the alcohol.

Last year, a raccoon broke into a liquor store in the US state of Virginia and proceeded to get drunk before passing out. A store employee found the trash panda face down, following what appeared to be a "liquor-fueled rampage" a few hours earlier.

Before blacking out, the raccoon left behind a trail of broken liquor bottles, dishevelled shelves and toppled boxes. A spokesperson for the store said the raccoon damaged 14 bottles of spirits worth about $250. No other damage was found, and the store opened after the cleanup.