FBI Burns Meth At Animal Shelter; Staff, Cats, Dogs Get An Unwanted ‘High’, Hospitalised

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Fourteen employees of a US animal shelter were hospitalised after the FBI used the facility’s incinerator to destroy two pounds of seized methamphetamine.

Staff and some 75 cats and dogs were evacuated from the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings, Montana, when the building filled with smoke on Wednesday.

Animal control officers use the incinerator to dispose of euthanised animals, but local authorities said it can also be used by law enforcement to burn seized narcotics.

The cats and dogs have been relocated, and the animals which experienced the most smoke exposure are now under supervision.

Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland said the incident occurred when negative pressure caused the smoke to be pushed in the wrong direction.

According to shelter executive director Triniti Halverson, she was unaware that a drug burn was happening.

“I can firmly and confidently say that, as the Executive Director, I did not know that they were disposing of extremely dangerous narcotics onsite,” she wrote in a statement. “My team and my animals had been confirmed to have been exposed to meth,” she said.

Before evacuating, many employees donned masks and assisted in moving the animals to safety.

Some staff were exposed to the smoke for more than an hour, and several began to feel sick. All 14 were taken to the emergency room, where they spent roughly three hours in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to treat smoke inhalation.

FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker told CBS News that the agency routinely uses outside facilities for controlled drug evidence burns. The affected animals received veterinary treatment and were moved to temporary shelters, including four litters of kittens who are under close observation after being confined in a smoke-filled room, Ms. Halverson told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

A restoration team has also begun decontaminating the building, she said, but the process will take at least two weeks to a month.

Describing the incident as “heartbreaking,” Halverson appealed to the public for donations to help procure essentials such as dog and cat food, blankets, and bottles. “We are displaced, lost, and homeless. For many of us — staff, volunteers, and fosters — YVAS is our safe space,” she said.