MONROE — Auggie depends on his nose for his livelihood. Wherever he goes, he’s sniffing and searching.

Off the clock, it’s mostly for his coveted rubber ball.

On the job, the Monroe Police Department relies on the trained nose of the German Shepherd-Belgian Malinois dog to track or find people and locate hidden illegal drugs.

Sniffing is Auggie’s job, but it puts him at greater risk for opioid exposure and overdose.

Like many police K-9s across Wisconsin, Auggie now has access to his own personal supply of naloxone, a drug that can save a life by reversing the effects of heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl and other opioids. Commonly known by the brand name Narcan, naloxone works on dogs just as it works on humans.

Locally, most law enforcement officers started carrying Narcan nasal spray within the past six to nine months to use when they’re the first responders to an overdose or in case an officer or K-9 accidentally ingests an opioid while working.

“It’s always in the pocket, ’cause you never know,” said Sgt. Dan Maresch, Auggie’s handler.

A state law passed earlier this year allows EMTs and firefighters to administer Narcan to K-9s and even house pets, too.

The collateral impact the opioid addiction epidemic is having on our animal companions is a grim indicator of how bad it’s gotten for humans. According to the Department of Health Services, opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin climbed steadily from 2000 to 2014, then appeared to be leveling off before shooting up dramatically from 2015 to 2016.

That sharp rise in overdose deaths coincides with the rising abuse of fentanyl and carfentanil, synthetic prescription opioids that are far more lethal than heroin and often used as cutting agents with street drugs, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Fentanyl, a painkiller typically prescribed to cancer patients, is about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Carfentanil is about 100 times more potent than fentanyl and intended for use as an elephant tranquilizer.

The DEA issued a nationwide alert about the dangers of fentanyl in 2015, followed by a warning about carfentanil in 2016, and stressed the life-saving benefits of carrying Narcan. Dogs are “particularly at risk of immediate death from inhaling fentanyl,” one alert warned.

“The particles (of fentanyl) are so fine, it goes airborne very easily,” said Maresch.

Just a few inhaled granules can cause a dog to overdose.

This isn’t a theoretical fear. Working police dogs across the country and as close as La Crosse have ingested opioids during drug raids or trainings and needed to be rushed to a vet.

About the time that fentanyl and carfentanil came to the attention of police, “that’s when we got the Narcan here, after hearing some horror stories,” said Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill. 

At first, his deputies kept Narcan at the office only, to have nearby when they tested drugs. Now each deputy on patrol, including the handler for K-9 Cody, carries two doses.

Narcan costs about $75 to $150 for a box containing two doses. For the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, this expense comes out of the patrol budget, Gill said. The Green County Sheriff’s Office and Monroe Police Department receive the drug through local EMS. If police use it, they attempt to recoup the cost through the patient or via insurance.

Training for K-9 Narcan Use

Wisconsin Vest-a-Dog, a nonprofit organization based in Janesville, is behind a push to get more K-9 officers outfitted with Narcan and other first-aid protection. Vest-a-Dog started in 2005 by donating bullet- and stab-proof vests for dogs to law enforcement agencies across Wisconsin.

In 2016, it began distributing K-9 first-aid kits, too.

Vest-a-Dog founder Donna Morgan estimates the organization has donated more than 325 first-aid kits since then, “and we’re making more,” she said.

The kits are nearly as large as a full-grown German Shepherd and cover supplies for a wide range of medical emergencies, along with instructions to immediately add an antihistamine, an injectable pain medication and naloxone to the kit.

“We can’t give those because our veterinarian can’t write 300 prescriptions,” Morgan said.

But Vest-a-Dog first-aid kit recipients — which include the Brodhead and Monroe police departments — can get first-aid training, including how to administer Narcan to a dog, through a partnership with an animal hospital in Appleton.

Lyn Schuh, a certified vet tech with the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center, volunteers her time with the hospital’s Operational K-9 Medical Team to train K-9 handlers and first responders around the state to render first aid. She also teaches a similar course at Fox Valley Technical College.

The trainings give a comprehensive overview of how to handle canine medical emergencies, but “obviously Narcan would be the most important,” Schuh said.

“Here in Appleton, in our little city, a lot of the dogs … they do it all,” she said, “and there just wasn’t a lot of training these officers get.”

Given how much money police departments invest in their K-9s, comprehensive first-aid training is important from a purely financial standpoint. Replacing Auggie in a year or two, when he ages out of service, will cost the Monroe Police Department about $15,000, Maresch said.  The Brodhead Police Department recently met a $50,000 fundraising goal to pay for its first K-9, including cost of a special squad, training and a down payment for the dog.

“It’s kind of like being handed the keys to a Ferrari and being told, ‘Drive safe.’ They’re given the dog and expected to know everything about it,” Schuh said.

Brian Bennett, who will be Brodhead’s K-9 handler when the program begins later this year, praised Vest-a-Dog’s efforts to help police departments.

“For us, they’re probably donating upwards of $4,000 worth of stuff,” he said. Similar to police in Monroe, he and his fellow officers have been carrying Narcan for about six months. Administering Narcan nasal spray to a dog is similar to administering it to an overdosing person.

“You grab them by the snout and hold their mouth shut,” Maresch said. 

Like other law enforcement officers interviewed for this article, he said he has never actually had to give Narcan to an overdosing K-9 or fellow officer. But Maresch has trained on Auggie using a water solution.

“He just sat there like, ‘OK, Dad, do whatever you have to do,’” Maresch said. 

Since Narcan only reverses the effects of opioids, it’s harmless if accidentally administered to someone who isn’t overdosing on opioids.

“You can’t go wrong with giving it to him. It’s not going to hurt by giving the dog Narcan,” he said.

Maresch has seen firsthand how dogs tend to get their noses right in substances, putting them at greater risk for ingestion. He recalls his former K9, Loki, finding some cocaine during a drug raid and knocking the powder “all over the place.” Fortunately, the dog ended up being OK.

As with humans, an overdosing dog administered Narcan will rapidly “awake” from its opioid-induced stupor and may be disoriented or defensive, similar to a person coming out of a seizure.

This could mean a dog that’s ready to bite or attack anything in its immediate vicinity, Schuh said. An informational sheet she hands out at trainings recommends that anyone giving Narcan to a dog properly restrain or muzzle it.

“We do teach them how to coach the animal safely,” Schuh said.

She and her team from Fox Valley Animal Referral Center are now able to train more people, thanks to the passage earlier this year of 2017 Senate Bill 435, which allows firefighters, EMTs and other first responders in Wisconsin to render first aid to K-9s and household pets.

“The three of us were very instrumental in getting Bill 435 passed,” Schuh said. 

On a recent Friday evening, the team was already conducting a training at a North Fond du Lac EMS and fire station. The hospital foots the bill for supplies, but the Operational K9 Medical Team donates their time.

“We’ve just kind of made it our mission. ... We just want to create the awareness,” she said.

For Auggie, the rambunctious K-9 at the Monroe Police Department, Narcan isn’t the only precaution his handler takes against opioid exposure. Officers try to conduct identification tests on drugs back at the station in a controlled environment instead of on-scene, for example.

The only time Maresch takes Auggie out of his squad “is to hunt for people or drugs.” If he and Auggie are called to assist with a search warrant, Maresch exercises caution.

“The main reason we’d use him would be for hiding spots,” Maresch said. “We look out for the dog as much as we can. There’s times where we do search warrants where I won’t take him into the house.”

After all, Auggie has retirement to look forward to in a year or two — and hopefully years of playing left. He has two “brothers” back at home where he lives with Maresch, and the three dogs are “thick as thieves together,” Maresch said.