Arkansas K9s Receive Lifesaving Narcan Kits

February 15, 2018 | Paragould, Arkansas

As the opioid and heroin epidemic continues to grip the country, it's not just officers who need to be careful when they come in contact with drugs. Their K9 partners can suffer from an overdose as well. 

The national nonprofit, K9s of Valor, hosted a Giving Tuesday campaign to provide life-saving medication to K9's across the country. 

The Paragould Police Department will benefit from that, receiving Narcan overdose kits for their two K9 officers. 

Those kits have the same drug in them that are used to prevent overdoses in humans. 

The dogs can experience overdoses just like humans, by coming in contact with or inhaling too much of a narcotic. 

"K9s, especially working interdiction on highways or specifically narcotic investigations, they desperately need those," said Lt. Scott Snyder with the Paragould Police Department. "They're a tool, they're our partners same as our human partners are and we want to do everything we can to keep them alive and keep them safe."

The Narcan kits should be in sometime next week. 

A vet will then train Paragould's two K9 handlers to administer the drug to the dogs. 

The kits cost about $70 each. 

The Pocahontas Police Department also recently found out that their K9 officer, Raiden, will be getting both an overdose kit and a trauma kit. 

A generous donor in Colorado paid the $120 bill for that. 

http://www.kait8.com/story/36957067/life-saving-overdose-kits-provided-for-k9-officers