Family heartbroken after dog dies from ingesting meth hidden in fast food bag
Riley, a 13-month-old labradoodle, died after she ingested meth tossed into a yard in rural Chisago County. (FOX 9)
CHISAGO COUNTY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A curious dog looking for crumbs died not long after ingesting meth that was hidden in a fast food bag.
The Chisago County Sheriff's Office said the dog came across 80 grams of meth, needles and a pipe in the bag. The dog, a 13-month-old labradoodle, reportedly smelled the crumbs still in the bag and started eating it, ingesting the meth.
“It’s like you lost a member of the family - my sons are, they’re angry,” said Bill Fredrickson, one of the dog's owners.
The dog, named Riley, was a Christmas gift last year for Fredrickson's oldest son.
“Someone came in and took something from our family,” said Frederickson.
On Tuesday afternoon, they noticed that Riley was acting strangely while outside.
“Just the dog standing by the trees and wouldn’t respond,” he said. “Just standing. Kind of bobbing its head a little bit, like trying to gain focus.”
At a veterinary emergency room, her temperature hit 110 degrees and her heartbeat was racing at 300 beats per minutes. The damage was done and she died on Wednesday. It was a mystery at first, but not anymore.
“[Meth is] just a poison, it ruins lives, it hooks people and they can’t get off it - just something awful,” said Sgt. Kyle Puelston with the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office.
A dog sniffing for crumbs inside a Subway sandwich bag ingested some meth that was being hidden inside. (Chisago County Sheriff's Office / FOX 9)
Looking around the yard the next day, the family found the bag containing the needles and meth.
“The value of [the meth found] is about $7,800 dollars,” said Sgt. Puelston. “So yeah, that’s a lot of money.”
When leaving for the vet Tuesday evening, the family saw people looking through the snow nearby and didn’t know why - now they do as the unknown people were likely looking for tossed evidence or completing a drop in a sale. Either way, meth claimed another life and a family is torn up.
“My older son, he’s pretty mad about it,” said Fredrickson. “Something was taken away from him, meant a lot to him.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the veterinarian expenses.