A family is distressed after their dog was hospitalized for ingesting methamphetamine while walking at a local Anaheim park.

On Thursday night, Amy Robbins took her dog, Abbey, a 12-year-old Chihuahua mix, for a short walk from their home to Stoddard Park located at 1901 9th Street. 

After visiting the park, they went back home. However, that’s when Robbins said Abbey began acting strangely.

“She was standing very statue-like,” Robbins recalled. “She just stood there for hours, just staring up at the ceiling in my bedroom. That is not like her at all.”

Robbins became increasingly worried. Her husband asked if the dog had eaten anything out of the ordinary during their walk.

“I was like, ‘You know what? She did sniff something. She licked the floor,’” Robbins said. “I went right back down to the park to where it had happened. I looked all around the floor and I found weed.”

Several hours passed by and Abbey’s behavior became more erratic.

“She’s zooming all over the house and can’t stay still,” Robbins said. “She was looking everywhere. I can’t get her to calm down. She was very in distress. She was very anxious.”

Robbins rushed Abbey to an emergency veterinary clinic and told the staff her dog had possibly ingested marijuana.

Upon further examination, however, the veterinarian suspected weed was not involved and asked to run a full blood panel test on Abbey.

“He comes back a few minutes later and he’s like, ‘We found meth in your dog. The test results came back positive for meth,’” she said. “My mouth just dropped.”

The vet said Abbey was at risk of going into cardiac arrest and would need to be hospitalized overnight.

“I was leaving her behind and I didn’t know if I was going to see her again,” Robbins said. 

The next morning, Robbins went to the Anaheim Police Department to file a report on the presence of drugs at the neighborhood park. However, she claimed officers were not eager to help or investigate.

“They took down all the details,” she said. “They took down my phone number and then they said, ‘Okay, we’re taking down your phone number, but don’t expect a call from us. We’re not going to do anything about it.’”

Frustrated and upset, Robbins said she went back to the park and spotted drug-related debris that she cleaned up.

“This is the neighborhood park,” Robbins said in disbelief. “People take their dogs on walks here. There is an elementary school right on the other side.”

Since the park has a playground and is in close proximity to a school, Robbins wondered what would’ve happened had a child accidentally ingested the methamphetamine or other narcotics that were littered on the ground.

“There are cars parked on the curb all day,” she said. “There are also homeless encampments all throughout the park. I don’t know if people there are using [drugs].”

As for Abbey, she was treated and is expected to recover. Robbins said the ordeal wreaked havoc on her family emotionally and financially. Abbey spent two nights in the hospital and the bill for her treatment had surged to over $2,000.

“I put it all on my credit card,” Robbins said. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay it all off. I will figure it out. It definitely cost me a lot of stress and money, but I’m just glad that Abbey’s okay. I would’ve paid $1 million if it meant saving her life. I cannot imagine my life without her.”

Robbins said she hopes her story will serve as a warning to other dog owners to be on the lookout the next time they bring their dogs to Stoddard Park.

While most of the state isn’t so lucky, there’s one Southern California county that is riding a high on legal cannabis production, according to a recent report.

Santa Barbara County released its crop report this week, and it showed that more than 9 million pounds of the plant was grown in the county in 2023 — which is worth more than $328 million. According to SFGate, the total weight of cannabis production was up 45% from 2022.

The only crop more valuable in Santa Barbara County in 2023 were strawberries.

The figures come as the legal recreational marijuana industry has struggled in the state in recent years. Reasons for the tough figures include high taxes and regulation, according to industry executives, resulting in lower prices through illegal marijuana sales.

Culver City-based MadMen recently reshuffled its executives after its stock plummeted toward $0 per share.

The numbers out of Santa Barbara County, however, may be reason for optimism for those in the industry. According to the county, a stronger-than-typical rain season contributed to the boom in production.

Recreational marijuana was legalized in California after voters approved proposition 64 in the November 2016 general election.

A man was killed after being shot in the head on a Metro train in South L.A. Friday night.

The shooting happened near the La Cienega/Jefferson station on the 5600 block of West Jefferson Boulevard in West Adams at around 7:22 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The victim was shot on the E line train as other passengers were nearby.

Arriving officers found the victim with a gunshot wound to the head who was not conscious or breathing at the time. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses recalled feeling terrified as the shooting happened during Friday night rush-hour traffic.

“I heard three shots and I thought it was fireworks because I didn’t think people literally shoot on the trains, point blank like that,” said a witness who did not wish to be identified.

The witness had just stepped off the Metro Gold Line at the La Cienega/Jefferson station when he saw three men chasing the victim on the platform.

The victim jumped onto the train just as the doors were closing.

“I saw three guys banging on the door screaming, ‘Snitch! Snitch!’” the witness recalled. “The train car ends up taking off. The next thing you know, it stops because usually train cars will stop and let the late people get on the train. But in this case, those people ended up pulling out a gun and shooting a guy point blank.”

Three suspects, described as Hispanic males, were seen fleeing the area while riding skateboards.

“It appears there was some kind of argument between a group of males down here on the ground level,” explained LAPD Captain Jamie Bennett. “They ran up the stairs and boarded a train that had been waiting here to unload passengers. The shooting occurred on the train. Then the suspects left the platform running down the staircase.”

Surveillance video captured several males running underneath the train platform immediately after the shooting. One man is seen covering his face. Police have not confirmed whether those men were the same suspects.

The witness, however, believes those men were definitely involved.

“They were 100% the same guys because no one else was up here, just them,” the witness said. “My train car was very empty. It only had about six people on it and it usually has more people.”

Sky5 video showed a large police presence blocking off the Metro station as they investigated the scene.

“All E Line trains will be turning back from Culver City and La Brea stations due to police activity at Expo/La Cienega Station,” Metro officials said.

Bus shuttles will replace train service between La Brea and La Cienega until further notice.

Friday’s deadly shooting comes on the heels of a troubling increase in violent crime across public transit. Attacks targeting Metro riders and operators, some fatal, have included shootings, stabbings, assaults, robberies, hijacks and more.

In May, Metro officials voted to authorize an “immediate surge” of law enforcement to patrol buses, trains and stations to address the concerns of drivers and passengers.

The latest data on public safety across L.A. Metro’s public transportation systems can be found here.

The victim’s identity was not released pending an investigation from the coroner’s office.

This developing story will be updated as more information becomes available.