By Jorge Casuso

August 19, 2022 -- The story of a dog who went blind after swallowing oxycodone during a walk in Palisades Park on Sunday is quickly spreading nationwide.

"Chance The Rapper Burns"

Lori Burns from Calabassas said she was walking her two dogs along Ocean Avenue between 11:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. when the smaller dog, "Chance The Rapper Burns," began acting strangely. He "started to breathe heavily and then he just collapsed," Burns wrote on her Facebook page. "He couldn't stand, was panting, and staring up and not focusing." Burns said she immediately drove him to the VCA Animal Hospital on Sepulveda and Wilshire boulevards, where they found his body temperature was an "extremely dangerous" 106 degrees.

"They iced his body to try to reduce his temperature, gave him oxygen, started him on IV fluids and performed tests," Burns wrote. "The vet said they were not sure he was going to make it -- the high fever could result in organ failure."

An hour later, she was called with the diagnosis -- SUSPECTED OXYCODONE OVERDOSE.

(The opioid painkiller -- marketed under such brand names as Roxicodone and OxyContin -- is highly addictive and a drug commonly sold on the street.)

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," she wrote. "We had just gone out on a walk and an hour later my dog had ingested Oxycodone and was fighting for his life.

"As a result of the Oxy ingestion his organs started to fail and he is BLIND.

"It’s upsetting and sad that we can’t leave our homes without worrying about things like this. We need change," she concluded.

The story was picked up by ABC7 Eyewitness News and aired by the network's national affiliates and posted on Yahoo News and MSN, among other media outlets.

Burns prefaced her post by saying, "I think it's important for us as a community and a city to know that sadly our streets and parks are not safe."

Her post prompted more than 200 comments on her Facebook page, including one from a dog owner who shared a similar experience.

"I was walking our dog on the boardwalk between temescal canyon and the Santa Monica pier and our dog ingested cannabis," wrote Jody Melcer.

"He’s ok. . . not nearly as dangerous, but scary," Melcer wrote. "You’re right. . . we simply just took our dog for a walk. Something needs to change!"

Wrote Lisa Spivey, "It's outrageous that things are this out of control in Santa Monica and Los Angeles in general."