Barry Stabeck is pictured with his dog Boomer who is recovering from a rattlesnake bite.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - What started off as just a regular trip to a local park for a Kamloops man and his two dogs last week turned into an emergency visit to the animal hospital after one of the animals was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Barry Stabeck says he was out collecting rocks in Tranquille Creek Park north of the city with his dogs Boomer and Teki on May 30, when Boomer, a 100-pound lab, suddenly lay down next to him.

“He’s usually very active, so when I noticed him lay down beside me, I thought it was weird,” Stabeck says. “About five minutes later we got up to move, and I noticed he was holding his paw up, I thought he sprained his ankle and that’s when I saw the two blood spots above his paw.”

Boomer was bitten by a rattlesnake in Tranquille Creek Park.

(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

He noticed swelling and bruising around the area that was bleeding but had no idea it was a rattlesnake bite until he took Boomer to a veterinarian in Kamloops.

“I never saw it happen and because the creek was so noisy, I didn’t hear the rattlesnake,” he says.

Stabeck says the vet clinic didn't have the antivenin medication for dogs.

“So they ice packed him and (called) around to see if they could find some,” Stabeck says.

After finally finding an emergency animal hospital in Kelowna that had a supply of the antivenin, Stabeck put his dog in the car and immediately started driving to the Fairfield Animal Hospital.

“When I got (Boomer) to Kelowna he was right out of it,” he says. “He was there for about two days.”

Boomer is recovering and the bruising around the bite has gone down significantly. However, Stabeck has started inquiring about why the antivenin treatment for dogs isn’t available at local vet clinics.

“He’s recovered very well but I have contacted the agency that regulates the antivenin, and I’ve gotten all kinds of stories,” he says. "Basically, there are only two vet clinics that have applied for antivenin, the one in Kelowna and another in Ontario.”

Stabeck says he's still working on getting a clear answer and doesn't want the same thing to happen to other dog owners. He's aware that he could keep his dog on a leash, but thought it would be OK in the area he was in.

"I know it's my responsibility, but what's the point of having your dog on a leash if you're in the middle of nowhere," he says.

As a safety precaution, WildSafe B.C. asks pet owners to keep dogs on leashes as the weather gets warmer and rattlesnake sightings become common in the Kamloops area.

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