Dog rescued from Scottish mountain after apparently eating cannabis

A weekend trip to Scotland took a turn for the worse when a black Labrador retriever was rescued from the United Kingdom’s highest peak after apparently eating cannabis and falling seriously ill.

Tokyo, a 5-year-old Lab, “suddenly became critically ill after ingesting what the vets believe was cannabis left on the trail” while hiking up Scotland’s Ben Nevis, recently summited by Princess Kate, her owner, Christina Bluhme, said in a Friday post on Facebook.

“She quickly lost the use of her legs, drifted in and out of consciousness, and I genuinely thought I was going to lose her,” Bluhme said.

Bluhme, a professional dog trainer, told CNN that her pet had been “so happy eating treats and drinking and had been her very active normal self” while on the hike, which also included Bluhme’s 17-year-old son, Magnus, and their two-year-old golden Labrador, Blaze.

Seeking help

As they approached the mountain’s peak at 4,413 feet and were about an hour from the top, Bluhme told CNN they observed Tokyo get “really weak in her hind quarters.”

Bluhme initially believed it was a “spinal thing or a disc that had slipped ⁠because of the climb,” but then Tokyo “started drifting in and out of consciousness.” Tokyo’s condition concerned Bluhme, who thought she might lose her dog.

After unsuccessfully attempting to bring the 55-pound (25-kilogram) Labrador down the mountain, Bluhme, at the suggestion of a fellow hiker, reached out to Lochaber Mountain Rescue ⁠Team, which dispatched an emergency rescue team to retrieve the ill dog.

Bluhme told CNN that

Tokyo was put on a stretcher by volunteers, who all brought the pup down the mountain, after which she was swiftly taken to a nearby vet where she made a recovery.

Bluhme reminded dog owners the dangers of cannabis for their pets and leaving paraphernalia on trails.