Dog Vomit Containing Rat Bait Poisons Vet Staff in Three States

Dog barf is already bad news. What could be worse? Bad news about dog barf.

Veterinary hospital staff in three states have fallen sick after inhaling the fumes from dogs that have eaten a common rodent poison, according to the US Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Gopher; photo by Chuck Abbe. Zinc phosphide is an inorganic chemical compound commonly added to pellets meant to kill gophers and moles. On contact with stomach acid and water -- that is, once swallowed -- zinc phosphide produces the highly toxic gas phosphine. After ingesting rodent bait containing zinc phosphide, dogs usually vomit, releasing phosphine into the air, which can poison humans. There is no known antidote.

The CDC reports phosphine poisonings at four veterinary hospitals: two in Michigan, one in Iowa, and one in Washington state. Each of these hospitals had treated a dog that had ingested rodent bait. Eight hospital workers have been poisoned thus far. According to the CDC, all experienced "transient symptoms" related to phosphine inhalation -- including chest tightness, shortness of breath, headache, and nausea.

In one of these cases, "a female Dachshund, weight unknown, was playing outdoors when she vomited behind some bushes and collapsed. Her owners rushed the limp dog to a Washington veterinary hospital. She was unresponsive and had diarrhea, a weak pulse, pinpoint pupils, and a temperature of 107F," reads the CDC's report. "Subsequently, the semicomatose dog vomited onto paper towels. ... A female veterinary technician, aged 34 years, who sniffed the dog's vomitus on the paper towels to determine whether it smelled like food immediately developed abdominal pain and nausea. ... Suspecting [zinc phosphide] toxicity, the veterinarian ... retrieved the vomitus about 20 minutes after it was put in the trash, placed it in a plastic bag, sealed it, froze it, and sent it to the Washington State Department of Health.

Dachshund by Shutterstock.com

The State Department of Labor and Industries' Industrial Hygiene laboratory analyzed the barf and discovered phosphorus and zinc in it.

In one of the Michigan cases, a 70-pound dog was brought into a veterinary hospital after consuming rodent pellets. "Vomiting was induced in the examination room using hydrogen peroxide, and two hospital workers were poisoned." Each of them experienced multiple symptoms. "The state poison control center advised both victims to ventilate the room and move to fresh air. No other medical care was received. Both recovered completely.

"Four other exposed staff members experienced only one symptom each. ... All six workers had been exposed by entering the examination room or a nearby area. Decontamination was conducted by disposing of the vomitus in an outdoor trash container and ventilating the room. All symptoms abated as soon as fresh air was circulated in the examination room and other areas of the veterinary hospital," reads the CDC's report.  

All four dogs involved in these poisoning cases recovered fully, according to the report. All's well that ends well, but the less barf the better.

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Know Your State’s Dog Laws, Lest They Bark and Bite

A few months back we had “recovering lawyer” Robyn Hagan Cain do a guest post about the tensions that exist between dog people and non-dog people in state parks, and she put together such a lovely post that we’ve invited her to come back and do another. This time she tackles state dog laws and encourages you to know yours. –Janine Kahn, Dogster Managing Editor

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Dog Laws Bark and Bite for Unsuspecting Owners
By Robyn Hagan Cain

I grew up in South Louisiana, a land that lacked leash and scoop laws. It was a surprisingly civilized place, despite the canine chaos that resulted from a void of dog laws.

In 2006, Braxlee, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and I moved to Alexandria, Virginia, a place ruled by dog laws. There were mandatory dog licenses, dog park ordinances, leash laws, and scoop laws — all the regulations I knew existed somewhere, but had never experienced firsthand.

Over the years, Braxlee and I made our way from Virginia to New York, and from New York to California. In each new city, we had to brush up on local dog laws and secure new dog licenses.

I would like to say that each license was procured with the utmost haste within the mandated time period, but that simply was not the case.

My husband and I procrastinated in getting a new dog license in each new city because we falsely believed that animal control officers only seized dogs in cases of abuse or neglect, not for a lack of licenses. I recently learned that was not the case, thanks to this recent lawsuit I read about at my day job:

A Louisville couple advertised a litter of American Bulldog puppies for sale. Louisville Metro Animal Services (LMAS) took note of the ad because it didn’t include a breeder license number, as required under local laws, and sent two undercover officers to pose as prospective puppy buyers and investigate.

That visit led to a second group of uniformed LMAS officers entering the couple’s home without a warrant and seizing all nine dogs. The couple had to pay LMAS more than $1,000 to get their dogs back after LMAS spayed and neutered the adults, and microchipped the entire bunch. The couple later claimed that the dogs contracted infections at LMAS that required veterinary attention.

In most cases, the law bars people from suing law enforcement officers for wrongdoing under a doctrine called qualified immunity. In extreme cases, however, a court can deny officers qualified immunity if the court decides that they reasonably should have known that their conduct violated a person’s civil rights. And that’s what happened here.

A federal appeals court — one step below the U.S. Supreme Court — said that LMAS officers were not protected by qualified immunity in this case because the officers should have known that the second, uniformed group of officers needed a warrant to enter the home and seize the dogs. (If you’re interested, details complete with legal jargon are available here.)

From an anti-dog-confiscation legal perspective, this seems like a decent ending to a really unfortunate tale, but the frightening fact remains that animal control offices are seizing healthy animals based on their owners’ ignorance of the law, instead of just issuing citations.

What does that mean for dog owners?

Brush up on your local dog laws. Most cities and animal control offices will include pet ordinances on their websites. If you want to check out your local laws, try running a search for your city and “dog laws.”

If you want to ensure that your best friend stays out of the pound, keep him on a leash, and make sure that all necessary vaccination medallions or licenses are on his collar and up-to-date. (It’s important that you keep the tags on your dog’s collar. In New York City, for example, you could get hit with a $200 fine if your dog’s license isn’t displayed on its collar.)

Losing your dog — even temporarily — to animal control is a traumatic experience for both the pet parent and the dog. Spare yourself the drama, fines, and lawyer’s fees by taking the time to comply with the law before you get cited for breaking it.

Dogster readers: Have dog laws in your home state ever bitten you?

About the Author: Robyn Hagan Cain normally blogs about the law for legal professionals. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and Braxlee, their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Editors’ Note: Can we just add that a breeder without a license likely has no business breeding to begin with? But that doesn’t mean that animal control should be able to enter their home without a warrant. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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