Toad licking with mans best friend.

QUEENSLAND dogs are getting addicted to the hallucinogenic sweat that oozes off the backs of cane toads.

Vets warn that some dogs are so desperate for a fix they deliberately hunt down the amphibians to stimulate the excretion of the deadly poison, then lick their prey.

Like all addicts, the pooches are risking their lives for their cheap thrill.


Jonathon Cochrane from the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science said there were some dogs he dubbed "serial lickers" who would be treated for cane toad poisoning a few times a year.

"To say a dog or a cat is having an hallucination is impossible, but some do star gaze or track something across the room that isn't there and others just stare out of the cage while we're monitoring them," he said.

Cairns Veterinary Clinic Veterinarian Dallas McMillan warned patients in a recent newsletter of the risk of addiction.

"Some dogs even seem to become seemingly addicted to the "high" from the toads,'' he wrote.

"If your dog repeatedly gets poisoned by cane toads, you should consider keeping them inside, especially at night and when it is raining.''

However he said it would be impossible to undertake studies into cane toad addiction in dogs.