New Mexico pet business uses cannabidiol to help treat sick animals
FARMINGTON — As the debate over marijuana legalization continues in New Mexico, a new business is offering cannabis treats — for pets.
Pawsitively Sweet Pet Bakery and Grooming sells meals and treats baked with cannabidiol, owner Jesse Christman said.
“It doesn’t make them stoned,” Christman said at the shop at on Tuesday. “It calms them down and eases pain. A lot of people (think), ‘Oh you’re going to get your dog stoned,’ and it’s not that way at all.”
Pawsitively Sweet opened on March 1 after moving from Albuquerque, where it opened in October. Christman said she was inspired to start the business after years of working as a dog groomer and after personal experiences with her own pet, a 12-year-old chihuahua named Raul. The aging dog has medical problems, and traditional medicine wasn't working for them.
“I was researching healthy ways to take care of him, because he did not do well with pain medicine,” Christman said. “He turned into a vegetable and wasn’t himself, and I didn’t want him living that life, but I couldn’t bear putting him down.”
She began treating Raul with cannabidiol, or CBD, and found it to be an organic and healthy solution to address Raul’s health problems.
“(CBD) is no different from a hemp oil or a hemp lotion,” Christman said, adding that the compound lacks marijuana’s psychoactive compound, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. “… There’s no THC in (CBD), which is why it has no psychoactive effects, and that’s why it is legal — because it does not have the THC in it.”
Christman said CBD is safe for pets to ingest and is an effective treatment for a variety of ailments and conditions, including aggression, anxiety, arthritis, nervousness, pain and seizures.
Though the sale of marijuana products is illegal in the New Mexico, state law does not ban CBD that is derived from hemp products, according to New Mexico Drug Policy Alliance policy manager Jessica Gelay.
“(CBD is) sold in a lot of stores in the state, and the transport and derivation of products made from hemp is legal,” Gelay said.
Christman said the treats from Pawsitively Sweet are made with hemp-derived CBD from a private distributor in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The standard treats are made with minuscule amounts of CBD — a ratio of 0.018 percent CBD per pound — but Christman said the shop can adjust a recipe based on a pet’s needs, ailments and weight.
“Our big goal here is to get dogs happy and healthy,” Christman said. “Even with these aliments, we want them to still be comfortable and be themselves and have their own little personalities still and not lose that just because they’re sick. … We just want to keep them around as long as we can.”
The shop also offers grooming services for a variety of shapes, sizes and types of animals at “an affordable price,” Christman said. Though the cost to groom an animal depends on its size and condition, standard grooming services run for between $30 and $35 at Pawsitively Sweet.
Christman said the business is planning a grand opening and adoption event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The event is in partnership with the Four Corners Purebred Rescue, and FCPR founder Reena Fair said there will be approximately 20 dogs available to adopt from the rescue organization.
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