Scott Co. veterinarian, sheriff’s deputy help save dog from accidental overdose

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WKYT) - A couple from Canada found themselves in an emergency situation while staying in a hotel in Georgetown, Kentucky on Tuesday night.

Tracy and Frank Patterson were in the middle of a dayslong drive from Lakeland, Florida - where they spend their winters - to their home in Ontario, Canada. It just so happened Georgetown would be where they’d stay for the night.

“This was by chance,” said Tracy Patterson. “We normally travel back and forth with our fifth-wheel trailer, so we normally stay in it overnight.”

But the couple soon learned they wouldn’t get much rest.

“When I was getting my husband’s pills out, I put them on the table and I went to get a different pill for him...and it wasn’t on the table anymore,” Patterson said.

Tracy said she knew right then that one of her two dogs, either Sadie or Mocha, had swallowed Frank’s opioid pain medication. It ended up being Mocha.

Tracy explained it was a prescribed six milligram dose of hydromorphone - not much for a person, but she knew how dangerous it was for her nine-pound dog.

“We needed to take pretty quick action,” said Dr. Abbey Biddle, a Georgetown-based veterinarian. “The little dog had ingested almost 20 times her dose of the medication.”

Dr. Biddle’s Commonwealth Veterinary Clinic sits just off the interstate, three minutes from the hotel the Patterson’s stayed in, but it’s still rare that they get an urgent visit like this.

“So that’s when we called in the Scott County Sheriff’s Office to bring in some Narcan and help us in that way,” Dr. Biddle said.

“In this community, pets are just like us - they’re family,” said Deputy Gary Whaley. “So we knew we needed to get something here quick”

Deputy Whaley delivered the life-saving dose, ensuring that Mocha made it through their 1,300-mile journey home, happy and healthy.

“Mocha’s alive because of them,” Patterson said. “If we lived there, they’d be our new vets.”