LORETTO, Tenn. — Police in a rural community near the Tennessee-Alabama state line have grown so frustrated with druggies flushing illegal narcotics down the toilet in an attempt to evade arrest they've resorted to scare tactics to thwart the drug dumping.

The police warned of “meth-gators.”

Police took to social media and warned that wildlife may get high off drugs that make it through sewer systems and into retention ponds.

"Our sewer guys take great pride in releasing water that is cleaner than what is in the creek, but they are not really prepared for meth," the police department wrote on social media. "Ducks, geese, and other fowl frequent our treatment ponds and we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do."

"They’ve had enough methed up animals the past few weeks without our help," police wrote. "So, if you need to dispose of your drugs just give us a call and we will make sure they are disposed of in the proper way."

In March, authorities in Florida shared images on social media of a crazed alligator that broke into a house and smashed a kitchen. 

Experts believe animals can suffer the effects of drugs, TEGNA, a broadcast company, reported on websites of its television stations.

In 2017, a European news agency reported on a jungle python found addicted to methamphetamine. The snake was found when police raided a meth lab. It needed six weeks of detox, The Telegraph reported.

**************

Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz