this is "nightline." >> tonight, we're on the ground in flint, michigan, where residents were repeatedly told the water was >> hear, hear! emergency. >> we were attacked, we were told we were wrong. >> the scientist who e of the poison in the water speaking out tonight. is the damage already done? they're like another member of the family but what would you do if your dog acted like this?eparation issues, and depression. more dogs are being diagnosed with some very human-like ailments.

their pets on pills.d the first major blizzard of 2016 is slamming the east coast. an all-out winter whiteout across 19 states.illion americans are in the storm's already deadly path. power outages, canceled flights, and potentially historic but first the "nightline 5." >> i love rudy's smile. so i give him these milk bone brushing chews. it's a treat that's proven to clean as well as a toothbrush toth and gums clean and healthy. this is my favorite. say it with milk bone. heartburn hits, fight back fast. tum's smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue and acid at the source.

seconds. remember snow day. when the schools were closed and the day was wide open.fresh powder was like stepping into a new world. the crunch of the snow as it packed under our boots. the drip of icicles melting in the sun. e hat down a little lower. and make sure there's a cup of hot cocoa waiting. because this winter,now day in pure michigan. your snow day begins

good ublic health crisis of massive proportions. lead in the water supply in flint, michigan. people breaking out in rashes, losing hair.ounded the alarm was ignored. but not anymore. abc's alex perez is following the investigation in flint tonight.two, one -- >> reporter: it was supposed to be a moment of triumph. cheers erupted as the then-mayor of flint, michigan, officially turned off theoit. >> here's to flint! >> reporter: and began pulling its supply from the local flint they know that this cost-cutting move would have devastating consequences. >> cheaper than detroit but about at what cost? health, people dropping over g sick? >> clean water!

years later, flint is in a state of federal emergency. >> our children should not have to be worried about they're drinking in american cities. that's not something that we should accept. >> reporter: president obama releasing $80 million in aid to michigan to help flint repair its water as national guards continue to cart in thousands of bottles of water and filters. but on that day back in april 2014, as the mayor pressed the ne knew what they had put into action. just weeks after the complaints began pouring in about foul-smelling water running from the taps. mysterious ailments. this 2-year-old would become the loss. at the time his mother had no idea what it was. she was not alone. >> my son jordan, he's been in the e.r. twice, early rash all over his body from

today we went in for high fever, cramping, sore throat -- >> reporter: mothers like brandy luck were starting to turn up at all over flint. >> jaden was seen today for a severely sore throat, very swollen, very red. >> reporter: long-time residents jacob and his wife had taken to young children with bottled water. >> you hear of all these legionnaires disease or the all these different things that are happening more and more frequently. nobody's accountable. no one's been no one's served a penalty for this. except for the people of the city of flint. >> reporter: for almost two years complaints from the city of 100,000 residents went . but independent test results were beginning to provide a chilling answer. high levels of the lead in the

>> the lead is anneuro toxin. once it is in your body the damage is done. >> reporter: this doctor, director of pediatrics at hurley medical center in flint, was one of the first to sound the alarm. >> what we noticed was that ater switch, the percentage of children with elevated blood lead levels doubled in the city of flint. in some neighborhoods it orter: when she released her findings in september 2015 -- >> right away we were attacked. we were told we were wrong, that we were unfortunate researchers, that we were causingr: two weeks later officials could no longer ignore the signs and officially declared the water unsafe. this week the fallout. as over 270 pages ofe-mails and documents came to light. it's a damning look into how officials ignored blatant warning signs.ere uncovered by this man, epa investigator miguel del toro. >> i never imagined this would happen in the first e was one of the

water after resident leann walters called in a complaint in early 2015. del toro went to her house to test the water. what she found washigh levels of lead in the tap water. water that he said was causing walters' children's hair to fall out in clumps. >> i think that if it weren't lot longer. >> reporter: after talking to the state department of environmental quality del toro made another stunning discovery. fed into the taps was not being treated with anti-corrosion agent, as required by law. >> inconceivable that you would allow a system with lead large system, not to have the treatment in place. >> reporter: in the spring of 2015, del toro warned the agency that the state was understating the lead levels in the city's in a memo, staffers have essentially downplayed or ignored warning signs. and that the whole town may have much higher lead levels than the compliance results e them that warning,

did they not know what they're doing? >> i don't know what their decision process was on this. >> reporter: internal memos show dismissed multiple warnings, spending months denying the lead contamination until october of last year. >> sad to see what's happened shouldn't have happened? >> shouldn't have happened. >> reporter: when dan wine, director of the department of environmental quality, wrote in an e-mail, i believe now we've made a mistake,rol should have been required from the beginning. admission met with public anger in a city where more than 40% live below the poverty line. residents are asking if left behind. >> if this was a highly generated economy and it was booming here, then yeah, it wouldn't have made it past threeeporter: flint's water supply has since reverted back to detroit's lake huron but the damage has been done. an independent task force conducted a review of the he water crisis and found the deq's

"one of aggressive dismissal, empts to discredit these efforts." the head of the epa's regional office in chicago which covers michigan has resigned after governor rick snyder officiallythe residents of flint. >> i say tonight as i have before, i am sorry and i will fix it. >> reporter: the apology coming just hours after attorneys filed a against the governor and state and city officials. dr. hannah says apologies don't mean that much to a mother wondering what will happen to >> she's traumatized about the cons consequences of lead. but they're also traumatized about what they've been through the last two years. an entire betrayal ofagencies. >> reporter: or to a city that will have to live with the consequences. >> you expect when you turn on your water, you expect it to be drinkable. and you've been told for almost two years that it's safe.ignificant trauma in the community. we are definitely trying to instill hope.

i'm alex peres, flint, michigan. could antidepressants be the next big thing in the animal kingdom? why more pet owners are turning to pills for their four-legged friends. mething in the air. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. ed get and keep an erection. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex.ra if you take nitrates for chest pain or adempas for pulmonary hypertension. your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level. to avoid long-term injury,ical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing... ...about viagra. available in single packs. how much protein does your dog food have?

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new puppy owner -- labradoodle, thanks -- it's easy to obsess over your pets making sure they have the best food, snow boots, and behind the earappens when your love isn't enough?

pets, some pet owners say antidepressants could be the abc's david wright. >> reporter: at the end of her work day, morgan hates to keep her partner waiting. >> racing out the door, running to get the t's not so much that he's legal just, he just misses her more than he should. >> there is a part of me that feels guilty just because i know that when he, he is very distraught. and it's hard to watch. >> reporter: unconditional love isn't always healthy. >> hi! oh!know. i know, it's okay. >> reporter: morgan accepts that about hachi, a puppy who suffers from a very real, very human separation anxiety. >> hachi digs at the floor. and he digs at the door. he bites the molding. this is reallial inget out of the apartment. >> reporter: and like an anxious

that can help. that's right. this melancholy mutt is on doggyts, a sort of prozac for puppies. hachi isn't alone. nearly 3 million dogs in the u.s. are on t now. let's not even get into cats. >> the problem is that just like with us, we often turn to the drugs as the first line of treating the problem. i think that's aesearcher and writer laurel brakeman, author of "animal madness," says our pets have deeper emotional lives than most of usedit for. what sort of emotional complexity is there for a dog? we like to think that the dog is wagging its tail because he's happy to see you when you comeen part of you sits back, maybe it's just because he's hungry. >> we're like that too. wide receiver i happy when we sit down in a restaurant because we're about to eat?ood friends? it's safe to say that other animals, particularly dogs can be happy and sad and anxious and fearful.

line between compassionate concern and full-blown crazy? >> it's so exciting, look! "legally blonde," el woods was too present for her dog. or how about "best in show." >> go to the hotel >> my name is an marie and this is albert einstein. >> reporter: for ann marie it's not about pampering her pooch. she's worried about albert's >> i might take him for a walk, he's so nervous he looks from right to left, his tail is down. yes, you can do it! and freeze. just be trembling very, very strongly. i mean, it makes you want to be able to give him a drink or something. >> reporter: after a series of failed behavioral lert was diagnosed with extreme anxiety. and the vet prescribed prozac. >> i knew that prozac really

help. >> reporter: but that diagnosis wasn't cheap. therapies and treatment costing upwards of $5,000. in fact, are estimated to spend more than $7 billion on pet meds every year. more than ever before. >> ready? come on, let's go. let's go. joined albetter for a walk in nearby central park. >> come on. albert, he thinks we should be going home. he doesn't want to go away from check out his body language. >> you see how his tail is down? that's not a happy dog. >> we're going to present our at -- >> reporter: across town hachi is meeting with trainer erika. >> that's what you were looking for, okay. >> reporter: the prozac gives him extra little help to o his owners. >> you still have to do the behavior modification, you still have to be extremely diligent and dedicated. because prozac's not going to >> you'll see he's just howling. >> reporter: morgan and jason

panic attack. he's been alone for five hours. >> he's pacing. and now he's whining.sed. >> reporter: this video, watch as hachi opens. >> that's not half as bad as what he can get. and that's, you know, that's very e's howling even with his head in the refrigerator. poor thing. >> heartbreaking, isn't it? >> heartbreaking. it's so sad. he definitely has separation anxiety. benefit from medicine. >> reporter: prescription pad pet ownership isn't for everyone. >> i also adopted my dog through best sabi is a rescue dog from a war zone. i met him on assignment in lebanon back in 2006. this dog was owned by a saudi here on vacation in beirut when the war broke out. they left, gave the dog to the doorman, and the doorman just

wouldn't dream of giving my dog prozac and he's been through a war zone. >> reporter: erika, the trainer, says it's not for brain-altering medication. that's a really scary thing. do i want to alter my dog's brain? yes, when it causes him so much fear and anxiety that he has to dig at a door and tryf out. >> i think that the medication is oftentimes a last-ditch effort before bringing a dog or a cat to the pound. so if you use medication as a way of keep an animal init's a fantastic final option. >> reporter: at least for now the drugs are working for hachi. >> it's tremendously helped. prior to putting him on this medication, he alone for more than two hours. now the seven, eight hour mark. >> reporter: albert, while skittish, is finally able to make it around central park. >> okay, all r: a spoonful of sugar -- >> good boy. >> reporter: and perhaps a dab of peanut butter helping the

i'm david wright for "nightline" in new york. still to come, the first year pummeling the east coast. gearing up for the snowpocalypse. and when her stepsoning, she faced public scrutiny. for the first time she's sharing her side of the story. >> people can say what they want about me. my purpose is to find my son. introducing centrum vitamints. a brand new multivitamin you enjoy like a mint. ectrum of essential nutrients... surprisingly smooth, refreshingly cool. i see you found the vitamints.vitamints. a delicious new way to get your

be good. text mom. boys have been really good today. send.mark his nice. send. brad could use a new bike. send. [siri:] message. you decide. they're your kids. it was him. it was him. keep your family app-connect. on the newly

proportions is slamming the east the heart of it. a friendly and frozen welcome to abc's eva pilgrim as she joins our broadcast from philadelphia for the first time.ter may have come late this year for the east coast but tonight it is coming out swinging. a massive blizzard spreading across several states. an onslaught that shows no signs of soon. here in philadelphia in our storm chaser suv the snow is coming down at a steady clip, making the roads sloshy and slightly slipperyhts you see are removing cars along these emergency routes so they can get plowed ed ed ed plows in to clear these roads. muns of car crashes and three deaths have been reported in the region so far. in tennessee people pushing cars off the road slick with snowvernors up and down the eastern seaboard are declaring states of emergency. >> don't go on the roads. be smart.

stay homebsolutely need to go out. washington, d.c. could get up to 30 inches of snow, which would make this the biggest snowfall in 90 years. the city closing businesses andransportation to deal with the crisis. airports are full of stranded travelers tonight, with more than 8,000 flightshe weekend. earlier today, grocery stores were packed with last-minute preppers. and weatherthe worst may be yet to come with predictions of increasingly heavy winds and many more inches of snow for the northeast tonight. for philadelphia. finally tonight, a look ahead. it was a missing persons case that captivated the country. 7-year-old kyronsappeared seemingly without a trace from his oregon elementary school in 2010. since that day his stepmother, terry horman, has been living under a now five years later she's

>> did you have anything to do with his disappearance? >> no. none.ou asking that question, but it hurts my heart to -- to even be asked. >> reporter: for the first time horman is speaking out about her failed whereabouts that fateful day, why she was sexting another man during the investigation. >> let's face it. your stepson's still missing, the scrutiny, and you're sexting with some random guy. >> sure. >> it doesn't look good. >> no it doesn't. but -- i'm not going to make an excuse for it. i'm going to own up toeporter: why terry says she's still fighting for kyron and for the daughter she says she hasn't been allowed to see for all these years. >> either you're a very convincing liar, or a grave stice has befallen you. >> i'd go with the latter. people can say what they want about me, i don't care.

get my daughter back, to get in order in that order. >> so much more of that interview monday. thanks for watching abc news. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow. as always we are online at