Dog tripping

“That’s the stuff.”

Apparently some dogs in Queensland, Australia have taken to getting high on cane toad secretions. Surprisingly, the dogs seem to enjoy the experience, repeatedly hunting down the animals just to get a fix. After licking the backs of the toads, the pets exhibit all the signs of doggy tripping — vacant stares, not responding to their owners, and reacting to nonexistent cues.

Cane toad secretions contain bufotenin, a psychedelic tryptamine related to DMT. But they also contain highly toxic chemicals that can cause vasoconstriction and death, so licking toads is generally a bad idea. Some dogs have died from cane toad poisoning, but others — like Dobby in the video below — are able to consume just enough to have a psychedelic trip without getting poisoned.

The video, an excerpt from the documentary Cane Toads: The Conquest, is both informative and hilarious. Dobby seems to be in doggy heaven.

My favorite bit of advice on this phenomenon comes from Australian MSN News: “Owners are encouraged to keep serial lickers indoors.”

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