Seattle flyer on reviving dogs from drug overdoses draws backlash

A flyer warning drug users that their dogs could overdose on narcotics has drawn criticism after it circulated among Seattle residents online.

Andrea Suarez, founder of We Heart Seattle, posted the flyer on X on Sunday. She said she found copies in the Belltown neighborhood downtown.

The flyer was produced by the Indigenous Harm Reduction Team, a group based in British Columbia. It tells users that dogs can ingest drugs by licking the ground, discarded foil or their own paws. The flyer says such incidents are accidents and do not make the owner a bad person.

It advises owners to watch their dogs for two hours if they suspect exposure and notes that problems often appear within the first 30 minutes. The flyer also recommends administering naloxone and CPR if a dog overdoses.

Suarez said the distribution of the flyer shows how severe the problem has become. In a video posted with her message, two other women said they were angry that the flyers were allowed and that residents had not done more to stop the situation.

Conservative podcaster Brandi Kruse also posted the flyer on Monday. She said it was wrong to tell drug users that exposing their pets to deadly substances was merely an accident.

The city has reported 191 overdose deaths through April this year, according to Public Health — Seattle and King County. Prosecutors filed 46 felony drug-dealing charges in King County in the first three months of 2026, many of them in Seattle neighborhoods.

In January, NBC News reported that six puppies were revived at Sky Valley Fire after suspected drug overdoses. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in November that it had seized about 3.4 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl from two trafficking groups in the Western District of Washington.