When the brown labrador Coco was handed over to the animal shelter in Plymouth after the death of his owner along with another dog, nobody there suspected that the two animals were addicted to alcohol. However, soon after admission, they began to behave strangely, which was not only due to the loss of their master, and became seriously ill.

The two obviously traumatized dogs had seizures and needed emergency medical attention, the English animal shelter Woodside Animal Welfare Trust reports on its Facebook page. Unfortunately, the second dog did not survive, and according to the report, Coco also had to be looked after around the clock for a long time.

Coco apparently had withdrawal symptoms

“He turned out to be suffering from symptoms consistent with alcohol withdrawal,” the post reads. With the help of medication, it took Coco four weeks to wean and recover physically. He behaves “like a normal dog now”, but is still very anxious. It will be a while before he can be put up for adoption.

The reasons for Coco’s alcohol addiction remain open

“No one knows the details of how these dogs got into the alcohol situation, but we do know that without our care, Coco likely would not have survived this heartbreaking ordeal,” the animal rights activists wrote, posting a recent photo of the beautiful brown Labrador.