Duane Musser, narcotics agent with the office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, charged Lori Ann Lipsky, 37, with two counts of obtaining the drug Tramadol from two veterinarian clinics under the pretense that all the tablets were to be given to her dog.
Tramadol, a synthetic painkiller and weak narcotic, has only been a controlled substance in the United States since 2014 and is often prescribed for animals but is widely abused in developing countries.
In the U.S., using pets to obtain the drug for human use is not unheard of, with some veterinarians on the lookout for those who have intentionally injured their animals.
Musser said she received prescriptions from two different clinics in the same township — the Animal Care Center and Leighow Veterinary Hospital — from March 14, 2016, through February 28.
The Animal Care Center administrator contacted Musser March 23 about the same prescriptions for the same dog at multiple practices.
Musser said she admitted April 25 to self-medicating with a portion of the tablets.
(The Morehead news - May 2, 2017)
