Chihuahua overdoses on heroin and cocaine; owners arrested

A container of Narcan, a brand-name version of the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, sits on a table following a protest at the Health and Human Services Humphrey Building Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in Washington. The number of fatal overdoses in the United States declined in 2023 – for only the second time since the current national epidemic of drug-related deaths began more than three decades ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The owners of a 15-pound Chihuahua pleaded guilty after the dog allegedly overdosed on heroin and cocaine at a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, motel, according to police documents.

Myrtle Beach police charged Shane Harris and Serrena Young with animal abuse after the May 27 incident at the Palmetto Vista Motel. Young was also charged with possession of heroin with intent to deliver heroin. They were both taken to the Myrtle Beach jail.

A Myrtle Beach firefighter gave the dog Narcan, the anti-opioid drug, using a nebulizer after a home health aide who was with Harris and Young at the motel, according to a police report. brought to the fire station.

The dog was given a full nasal dose of Narcan and, after being resuscitated, given oxygen and taken to Strand Animal Emergency Hospital for further care, according to a police report.

Harris, who accompanied the orderly to the fire station, reportedly told authorities that a man came to his motel and left about a gram of heroin on a table and that the dog ate it and was get sick.

Police then went to the motel and met with Young, according to the report.

While executing a search warrant, detectives said they found a syringe containing a clear, brown-tinged liquid in a black purse in the bathroom, which later tested positive for heroin and to cocaine.

Young admitted to officers that the syringe belonged to him, according to the police report.

Court records show Harris pleaded guilty to abandonment or abuse of an animal, was sentenced to 15 days in jail and owes more than $1,000 in fines. Young also pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 15 days in jail and fined more than $700.