WA firefighters save puppy from fentanyl overdose

According to the fire crew, the puppy was found unresponsive in a car where fentanyl was present. First responders administered a small dose of Narcan, typically used to reverse opioid overdoses in humans, and successfully revived the animal.

“It’s not every day we use Narcan on a four-legged patient, but our teams are ready for just about anything,” Lacey Fire shared in a post on social media. The puppy is now reported to be “doing well.”

While rare, incidents of fentanyl exposure in pets are becoming more frequent in Washington. In May 2024 alone, at least three dogs in Spokane reportedly required overdose reversal medication after ingesting fentanyl believed to have been discarded on the ground. Fentanyl is often smoked off aluminum foil, which is then tossed aside, leaving behind drug residue that poses a risk to curious animals.

Unlike human overdose cases, there are no centralized registries or databases tracking pet fentanyl exposures or related deaths, either nationally or in Washington state. This data gap makes it difficult to understand the full scope of the issue.

However, the threat of opioid contamination remains very real. In 2024, Washington state recorded 3,137 drug overdose deaths. In 2023, there were 3,477 fatalities, with an estimated 73 to 76 percent involving fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. Drug overdoses in the US declined in 2024, but remain the leading cause of death for Americans 18–44 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As overdoses rise among humans, accidental exposures among animals, especially pets walking in public areas, appear to be an underreported consequence of the ongoing opioid crisis.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that classifies fentanyl-related drugs as more dangerous substances as part of the president’s broader crackdown on the country’s opioid epidemic.

The Republican-led bill, called the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act, was passed with wide bipartisan support in the House and Senate. The legislation designates fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which means crimes related to the deadly drugs will require prison sentences.

Over twenty Republican state attorneys general previously urged Congress to pass the bill, calling it "vital" to addressing a "cataclysmic surge of overdose deaths" in the US. According to the CDC, opioids and synthetic opioids are the top two causes of drug overdose deaths in the US. 48,422 deaths involved fentanyl out of approximately 80,391 total drug overdose deaths in 2024.