Crows are being given naloxone after suspected drug overdoses in Prince George

An animal welfare group has been administering nasal naloxone to crows that are suspected to have eaten toxic drugs left accessible outside in downtown Prince George, B.C.

The Good Caws Crow Rescue Society (GCCRS) has posted multiple videos showing their volunteers giving nasal naloxone to crows that are otherwise unresponsive.

The videos then show the crows alert and able to fly again.

Naloxone is a medication commonly used to reverse or reduce the impact of an opioid overdose in people, and Dayna Slater of GCCRS says the crows they are helping are centred in an area of town where illicit drug use is known to occur.

“It’s disheartening, it’s scary,” she told CBC Radio West host Sarah Penton. “It’s a whole bunch of factors coming together to make, like, the perfect storm.”

Slayter said they’ve had one or two suspected drug overdoses a year in the past, but said they’ve recorded more than a dozen among crows this year alone, an alarming rise.

“Their wings are spread out, their eyes are closed, their heartbeat slows right down. They’re unresponsive but alive,” is how she described the symptoms, adding some have a brown liquid foam coming out of their beaks.

While some of the birds have died, she said most were able to be released after recovering within 24 hours.

Dr. Kaitlyn Liukaitis of the Birchwood Veterinary Clinic has helped treat some of the crows, and said their symptoms are consistent with a toxic drug overdose.

She also said she isn’t surprised using naloxone helps reverse the symptoms, as it has become a common tool used in veterinary care to treat a variety of animals.

“It’s always frustrating that, as a human population, we’re so damaging to the environment,” she said.

Increase in drug toxicity

Cities across British Columbia have seen a rise in toxicity in the illicit drug supply, leading to multiple public warnings.

In Prince George, overdose calls have tripled at times — leading to a constant wail of sirens downtown, which is where the crows are being found.

Outreach groups say, as there is a growing political backlash to harm reduction measures like supervised consumption sites, it is becoming more difficult for people living with addiction to access prescribed alternatives to street drugs.

They advocate for safe, indoor spaces for people to access and use drugs — in part, so they aren’t left outdoors.

Slayter said she is working with harm reduction groups, who have been key to identifying crows experiencing suspected overdoses, and who have also helped supply expired naloxone kits for her volunteers to use.

She said she doesn’t think anyone is intentionally harming the birds but, rather, the overdoses are a symptom of larger problems.

“They live side-by-side with us. They’re in our garbage, they’re in our yards. They’re a direct mirror of the environment that we are living in.”

She said she suspects the crows are accessing the drugs as they are mixed in with garbage that is openly available downtown.

She said her suggestion for a solution is more covered garbage cans that would prevent crows from accessing disposed materials.

“A crow doesn’t know the difference between a sandwich bag and a bag that had something in it. And it takes something the size of like a grain of sand to affect a bird,” she said.