Credit: Dangerous Minds

Workers at an animal shelter in Montana have been hospitalised after smoke from methamphetamine seized by the FBI filled the building.

The incident occurred Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter in Billings on September 10th when the FBI used an incarcerator at the facility to burn two pounds of methamphetamine, which equates to over 907.6 grams.

On September 12th, Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland confirmed that smoke from the burned drugs was sucked into the animal shelter due to negative pressure. According to CBS News, the incinerator is typically used to burn carcasses of animals euthanised or collected by the city’s animal control division.

On an infrequent basis, the FBI use the facility to borrow the incinerator to burn seized drugs, and there has never previously been an issue.

14 staff at the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter have been treated at hospital following the evacuation of the facility. Additionally, the 75 cats and dogs in its care have been sent to foster homes or relocated.

The shelter’s executive director, Triniti Halverso, has claimed she was not aware the FBI were burning meth with the incinerator, stating, “I can firmly and confidently say that, as the Executive Director, I did not know that they were disposing of extremely dangerous narcotics onsite.”

She added, “My team and my animals had been confirmed to have been exposed to meth.”

Halverson has called it “heartbreaking” and asked the general public to donate any supplies which could be of help to the cats and dogs. She shared, “We are displaced, lost, and homeless. For many of us — staff, volunteers, and fosters — YVAS is our safe space.”

The decision to burn meth at the facility has angered local residents, including Jay Ettlemen, who told the AP: “Why the hell are they destroying drugs inside the city limits? There’s so many other places in the middle of nowhere.”

The shelter is set to remain closed for the foreseeable future until it can be tested for contamination.