An unusually mild winter has caused another explosion of poisonous cane toads here, prompting warnings to pet owners to keep their dogs inside or on a leash.

“Cane toad venom can kill a small dog in about 5 minutes if proper treatment is not administered immediately,” says Jeannine Tilford, the CEO of Toadbusters, Inc., the company that she founded in the Palm Beaches area in 2015 that now covers most of Florida.

The toads are an invasive species, which are about twice as big as the normal, harmless toads native to coastal Florida, and can be distinguished from them because they do not have ridges on their heads. They were apparently imported into Florida in the 1930s by the sugar industry to control other insects harmful to sugar cane.

One Orchid resident with a small dog named Max said she woke up one recent morning to find hundreds of baby toads floating in her swimming pool. She has had her pool service clean out her pool several times but she’s still waiting for a visit from a Toadbuster technician to remove any remaining toads from her property.

If a dog steps on, licks or bites one of the ugly-looking toads, also known as bufo or giant toads, the toad will release a white, milky substance that is venomous. Pet owners should try to immediately wash that liquid out of the mouth, or off the paws of the dog or cat with a garden hose, and take the pet to an emergency veterinary clinic.

Cane toads can be killed and destroyed with impunity, but Tilford says residents should be careful when attempting to tackle adult toads themselves. “If you try to whack a cane toad with a garden shovel, the venomous liquid can squirt out up to 6 feet away and make you blind if it hits your eyes,” Tilford says. 

After trapping the cane toads, mostly at night when they come out to feed, Toadbusters technicians put the toads in a freezer for three days until they die and can be disposed of. “They are humanely euthanized in accordance with the guidelines of the University of Florida and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the FWC,” Tilford explains.

Tilford’s advice to pet owners is to never leave a dog unattended outside, and bring in pet food dishes and water bowls, especially at night, which is when cane toads come out to feed.