05/16/2026
💊 How to Dispose of Unwanted Medicine 💊 in accordance with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
While prescription and over-the-counter medications can help people and animals when used appropriately, the same medicines can be dangerous to people, animals, and the environment when used, stored, or disposed of improperly.
☠ Over-the-counter and prescription medications – for both humans and animals – are now a leading cause of poisonings in our pets! Neither septic tank systems nor municipal sewage and water treatment facilities can eliminate all pharmaceutical contamination poured down drains or flushed down toilets. By disposing of drugs into the water system, the problem is not solved, but transferred to water which we depend upon. A wide range of pharmaceuticals have been found in rivers, streams, groundwater, and drinking water nationwide.
How you can be part of the solution:
📝 Use medications as directed.
🚽 Never pour or flush pharmaceuticals down drains or toilets.
🩺 Do not take unwanted or expired medications to your veterinarian for disposal unless he or she has state or federal authorization to collect pharmaceuticals for disposal. ***Stanglein Vet Clinic is NOT authorized for collection & disposal***
💊 Dispose of unwanted or expired medications, including prescriptions for controlled substances, through authorized take-back events, mail-back programs, and collection receptacles.
Learn more about drug disposal programs offered in your area:
✅ Check with your local pharmacist.
🔍 Search online drug disposal locators (e.g., Safe Pharmacy, or Dispose My Meds) to find authorized pharmaceutical disposal sites near you.
☎️Contact your local environmental authority, department of public health, or Drug Enforcement Administration field office.
If there is not an authorized pharmaceutical collection program available in your area, visit UnwantedMeds.org to learn how you can get one started.
If you are instructed to dispose of the medications in trash (not an option for prescriptions of controlled substances), follow these rules:
1️⃣ Remove or blacken out all personal information.
2️⃣ Leave visible the drug information (drug name, concentration, dose, volume, pill count, etc.).
3️⃣ If a medication's bottle is designed to be opened, remove the lid, add a safe and unpalatable substance (e.g., kitty litter or used coffee grounds) to the medication in the bottle, replace the lid, and then seal the bottle in a leak-proof bag or other container.
We hope this information is helpful, as we are striving to keep our patients, clients, and environment safe!!!
