Addiction rarely hurts only the person using drugs. Experts in California have pointed out that drugs damage every corner of households, including the animals that depend on their owners and families. Dr. Lisa Bane is a veterinarian and advocate with Mothers for Awareness and Prevention of Drug Abuse, aka MAPDA, and weighs in.
Families looking for resources can take notice that the consequences of untreated addiction ripple outward in ways that rarely show up in statistics.
The Whole Household Suffers
Addiction narrows a user’s world until immediate survival crowds out everything else, including their dependents who can’t ask for help.
Bane recalled a recent case involving a young woman with 25 dogs on her property. “Her house was filled with feces,” Bane relayed. “The dogs, many of them puppies, were left to eat the gravel in the yard and rocks.” The pups were eventually brought to her clinic, where “they literally pooped out rocks and gravel.”
Bane observes that people with addiction do love their animals.
“She talked about them so ecstatically, but she had no vision outside herself to see how these animals were suffering.”
Removing animals from those situations is delicate work. Bane’s approach starts with compassion rather than anger. Her team gently persuades owners to voluntarily surrender animals by building trust first, which can take a long time.
Reaching Young People Before Addiction Starts
Bane hopes the animal angle reaches young people, who she says face anxiety, stress, and loneliness at levels she hasn’t seen before and are increasingly prone to self-medicating.
“Showing kids that addiction could lead to all the ways that you can mistreat animals might be one way to reach them.”
Addiction is a chronic condition that changes the brain’s reward and self-control systems so that they compulsively use drugs despite harm. Common signs of addiction include secrecy around use, money problems, changes in sleep and appetite and withdrawal from family and friends. It’s treatable, and early help changes outcomes.
Help in California & Beyond
Families in the Coachella Valley and anywhere else in the country can look for care now. Browse through our online directory to compare levels of care, from medical detox to residential and outpatient programs.
Explore local options by also calling
800-681-1058
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