Potent euthanasia drug Euthasol stolen from HaukiVet clinic in Ylöjärvi

Over the weekend, burglars broke into the HaukiVet clinic in Kuru, Ylöjärvi, and took a hazardous veterinary euthanasia drug, YLE reports. Euthasol is a red, very sticky liquid that contains pentobarbital, a powerful central nervous system depressant. Do not touch it, authorities warn.

Marko Peltonen, lead investigator with the Central Finland Police Department, said other substances were also stolen but police are naming only Euthasol because of its particular danger. Peltonen said he had learned through YLE reports that the drug has also been used recreationally in Tampere, where addiction services treated a person who needed urgent acute care.

According to YLE, Euthasol is sold in small quantities, and the amount taken from the vial can be substantial: one reported vial contained 240 millilitres. Tampere A-clinic doctor Juuso Niemenpää warned that even a roughly one-gram dose of pentobarbital can be fatal, and that there is no specific antidote. He also noted that combining Euthasol with other sedatives greatly increases the risk of respiratory failure.

YLE adds that the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) says pentobarbital is rare in Finland today, after barbiturates were phased out. Niemenpää also stressed that addiction can impair a person’s ability to make safe choices.

Police declined to give an exact amount stolen, but Peltonen said there was enough to euthanize several animals and urged anyone with information or sightings to contact police. "We hope this notice reaches the thief or whoever now has the substance so that no accidents happen," Peltonen said.