Seattle dog owners warned about pets overdosing in viral flyers
A flyer warning drug users that their dogs could overdose on narcotics is sparking backlash after it circulated among Seattle residents online.
"Overdose deaths of our pets is so bad the county now hands out fliers on how to administer narcan and cpr," Andrea Suarez, founder of We Heart Seattle, said in a Sunday X post.
The flyer, put together by the Indigenous Harm Reduction Team (IHRT), established in British Columbia, reads in part, "Naloxone & dogs. They’re dogs. They put stuff in their mouth. These are accidents. If your furry friend ODs, it does NOT make you a bad person."
In a video in her Sunday X post, Suarez said she came across the IHRT flyers in Belltown, a neighborhood located in downtown Seattle.
"So bad we now have information on how to revive our dogs from overdose from opioid poisoning," Suarez said.
Another unnamed woman in the video said, "'I’m pissed this is allowed," while another said, "It’s cause everybody doesn't stand up and say enough is enough."
"They might lick the ground or a discarded cooker/foil," the flyer continues. "There might be traces on our hands. They might sniff the ground and inhale a small piece. They might get some on their fur / paws and lick it off. They’re dogs. They put stuff in their mouth."
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"If you think your furry friend may have eaten or inhaled drugs, don’t leave them alone for the next couple of hours," it added. "Often if something is going to happen it’ll be within the first 30 mins — but sometimes s--- doesn’t happen the way we expect."
On Monday, conservative podcaster Brandi Kruse posted the IHRT canine overdose flyer on X and wrote, "I planned to be less angry at the world today, then I saw this flyer spotted by @weheartseattle. Homeless drug addicts are being told that it's an 'accident' if they expose their pets to deadly drugs and it ‘does not make you a bad person.’ YES IT DOES."
In January, NBC News reported that six puppies were revived at Sky Valley Fire, approximately an hour’s drive north-east of Seattle, after the puppies were suspected of drug overdose.
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The city continues to grapple with overdoses in humans as well.
Local Seattle outlet KOMO News reported May 14 that "Prosecutors in King County filed 46 felony drug-dealing charges in the first three months of 2026, with a significant share concentrated in a handful of Seattle neighborhoods," and that "according to Public Health — Seattle and King County, there have been 191 deaths due to overdoses so far in 2026 through April."
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The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported in November that the agency seized roughly 3.4 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl from the two drug-trafficking groups targeted in investigations in the Western District of Washington.
Fox News Digital reached out to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, Seattle City Hall, King County Public Health and IHRT for comment but did not immediately receive responses.