Gold Bar, Washington - The Sky Valley fire station in Gold Bar undertook an alarming dog rescue operation recently when a group of ten-week-old puppies were handed over in life-threatening condition, victims of severe drug poisoning.
Several people initially brought three puppies to their local fire station.
The four-legged friends were unconscious, showing massive breathing problems, and some were already in cardiac arrest, the department reported in an Instagram post.
At that moment, the emergency services quickly realized that all three pups showed almost identical symptoms – and the problem pointed to an external cause.
The firefighters immediately began life-saving measures.
In addition to CPR resuscitation and oxygen administration, Naloxone (aka Narcan) was also used.
This drug is primarily used for opioid overdoses. According to the emergency services, it was suspected that the puppies had come into contact with fentanyl.
"Also knowing that Fetanyl is one of the major causes of poisoning, when introduced in the air as a powder, it was our firefighters best guess that the puppies had experienced a fetanyl OD," explained the dog rescuers.
While providing medical care, Sky Valley rescuers notified the Snohomish County (Washington) Sheriff's Office – and then the story got even stranger.
Even more sick puppies are found by police
While firefighters fought for the animals ' lives, deputies made their way to the home address of the person who had initially surrendered the dogs.
Once there, they encountered even more four-legged friends in dire need of help.
"Sheriff deputies were able to find the individuals at their home and found three additional very sick puppies and rushed them to fire station 54 where firefighter-EMTs provided additional life saving measures," the responding officers wrote.
All of the animals were soon taken to an urgent care vet clinic, which was open around the clock for just such emergencies.
"Report from the veterinary clinic is all puppies are recovering well," the Sky Valley station added in an update.
"It is our hope the puppies fully recover and find loving forever homes!"