Meth labs are taking a toll on family pets

[QueenScoopalot]

http://www.katu.com/stories/76418.html
(link w/video)
Meth labs are taking a toll on family pets

SALEM, Ore. - The chemicals used to make methamphetamine can eat away at your skin and are generally bad for your health, but did you ever think about what they can do to animals?
According to the Humane Society of the Mid-Willamette Valley, they are actually seeing more and more family pets turning up at their doors contaminated and hurting from those types of chemicals.

The long-term effects on animals can be devastating because the toxic chemicals can eat away at the animal's skin, just like it does on humans.

The animals, which can include everything from dogs to rabbits and birds, need extensive washing and medication to get rid of the contamination and restore their health.

For example, Mattie is a three-year-old Pit Bull that police found when they busted a methamphetamine lab in West Linn.

The chemicals used to make the drug had burned the fur off her face and chest, leaving it raw and sore.

"The skin was just so callused and so thick with oil that you didn't want to touch it," says Teri, Mattie's current owner. "It was just so sad because nobody wanted to touch her."

Even after being treated, the scar tissue in Mattie's ears still threatens to close up her canals.

Humane society officials across the state say the number of pets removed from methamphetamine-infected homes has increased and even doubled in the past year.

Pets removed from methamphetamine labs have been found malnourished and showing signs of months and months of neglect.

Susan Carey with the Human Society of the Mid-Willamette Valley says the numbers of animals getting sick from methamphetamine chemicals is hard to tell because most of them are left outside and sometimes never found.

Anyone who suspects that an animal has become sick or injured from a methamphetamine lab is urged to contact their local Humane Society or the police department's animal control department.
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I can relate to this story, as I've rescued a few cats from known crack dens, and the poor cats are psychotic and untouchable for a while, until the effects of the forced drug inhalation wear off. Not to mention they're undernourished.

[ramanth]

How sad.

[moosmom]

If the chemicals do that to human AND animal skin, I can't IMAGINE what it does to the people who buy and smoke the junk!! Disgusting!

[IRescue452]

And to think, those are regular household chemicals.

[Jadapit]

Meth is a terrible drug period. We live in a small town and the meth here is really bad. I have seen what meth does to people they cant take care of themselves let alone their pets. It's very sad.