Dozens of Dogs Put Down after Parvo Outbreak

February 6, 2008 | by Robin Wallace

REIDSVILLE, NC – In a shelter where space is limited, a tragic turn of events has left the Rockingham County Animal Shelter with plenty of room.

Earlier this week the North Carolina shelter discovered that a dog it had fostered was infected with canine parvovirus.

The contagious disease, commonly referred to as parvo, infected the majority of the dogs housed at the shelter.

“We had a real, real bad outbreak of parvo and had to put 61 dogs down,” said Caroline Sanders, shelter director.

Following a veterinarian’s suggestions, the shelter closed its doors for two days while it did a massive cleaning and euthanized all of its dogs since the disease is highly contagious and has no cure.

The bacteria is so resistant that it can survive for months without a host and the only hope for killing it is through sterilizing all surfaces with bleach.

Vaccinations can prevent dogs from contracting the viral disease, but once a dog is infected it only has a 50-50 chance for survival.

The disease spreads through physical contact and takes seven to 14 days for an animal to show signs of being infected. The symptoms include vomiting, bloody diarrhea and lethargy.

At this shelter, funding and space are limited which indirectly contributed to this extreme outbreak. While the county plans to soon have an up-to-date facility, the current shelter lacks cages with barriers to prevent the transfer of urine and feces.

And with a limited budget, the adopting families must provide vaccinations for the animals rather than the shelter.

This sad story is a reminder for all pet owners to make sure your animals’ vaccines are current.

For more information on parvo, visit workingdogs.com/parvofaq.

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