Many dogs in Australia lick the venom from cane toad to create the illusion of "coffee"

Licking venom from toads can cause many dogs to be "addicted" and cause death.

Marie Flink (Australia) had to leave her job today when she realized that her pet dog Bam Bam was acting very differently all morning. Bam Bam suddenly "euphoric" and strangely hyperactive, that's when Marie knew that something was wrong. It turned out that Bam Bam, while playing around in the yard, accidentally licked a cane toad - a problem that is very common with domestic dogs in an area with many toads living in Australia.

"He (Bam Bam) looks like a person who is drunk or using drugs, I can see that his behavior is not normal at all" - Ms. Marie said.

102 cane toads were brought to Australia in 1932 as a way for the Australian government to eliminate sugarcane beetles. But it turns out the Australian climate is extremely suitable for the breeding of this species, so there are currently more than 1.5 billion sugarcane toads living across the country, with a large concentration in tropical states like Queensland.

As a defense mechanism, cane toads secrete a toxin that, when eaten or licked by dogs, will cause a state of hallucinations similar to drug use. 

Dr Kirsty Fridemanis, a veterinarian in Brisbane who specializes in treating cases of cane toad poisoning in dogs, said: "The initial manifestation of the poisoning is that they are very excited and the body starts shaking ... but your pet will have seizures or maybe even die in the worst case ".

"The nature of dogs is curious about their surroundings, they always want to eat or lick everything to find out what it is" - Dr. Kirsty added.

Professor Rob Capon from the University of Queensland has spent many years studying the cane toad and the toxins they regulate. "There is a compound called Bufotenin in the skin of the toad, which directly affects the central nervous system and creates psychedelic sequences in dogs."