"That's what brought this to a head, there were so many puppies getting sick in the shelter," Dr. Bud Alldredge, veterinary doctor, said.
The animal shelter has completely shut down due to an outbreak of Parvo Virus. It's a virus that attacks dogs' intestines and can cause death. Now workers have to depopulate and disinfect the entire shelter.
"It's going to take several days with several different treatments to get the sanitation that we desire in the animal shelter," said Dr. Alldredge.
Until they reopen next week, residents of Sweetwater are left with few options if they find an animal. Dr. Alldredge suggests that if the animal is healthy, that people wait.
"If an animal does not appear sick, I guess they could maintain that animal in their own home until such time that the shelter opens back up," he said.
Outside of vaccinating puppies, there's no other way to prevent an outbreak of Parvo. Now the shelter is implementing veterinary health checks before any dog is accepted. This, however, may not always prevent an outbreak.
"Many times you'll have an animal that is not exhibiting signs but is incubating the disease," said Dr. Alldredge. "And so, then you do have the break."
Even though there are less than five dogs, the few that are left in the animal shelter are already sick and will have to be put down.
"We're fortunate that our numbers, that it's not going to be that much of a loss," said Dr. Alldredge. "But it is a significant loss at the few numbers that we have."
The Sweetwater Animal Shelter is looking to reopen Monday.
The animal shelter has completely shut down due to an outbreak of Parvo Virus. It's a virus that attacks dogs' intestines and can cause death. Now workers have to depopulate and disinfect the entire shelter.
"It's going to take several days with several different treatments to get the sanitation that we desire in the animal shelter," said Dr. Alldredge.
Until they reopen next week, residents of Sweetwater are left with few options if they find an animal. Dr. Alldredge suggests that if the animal is healthy, that people wait.
"If an animal does not appear sick, I guess they could maintain that animal in their own home until such time that the shelter opens back up," he said.
Outside of vaccinating puppies, there's no other way to prevent an outbreak of Parvo. Now the shelter is implementing veterinary health checks before any dog is accepted. This, however, may not always prevent an outbreak.
"Many times you'll have an animal that is not exhibiting signs but is incubating the disease," said Dr. Alldredge. "And so, then you do have the break."
Even though there are less than five dogs, the few that are left in the animal shelter are already sick and will have to be put down.
"We're fortunate that our numbers, that it's not going to be that much of a loss," said Dr. Alldredge. "But it is a significant loss at the few numbers that we have."
The Sweetwater Animal Shelter is looking to reopen Monday.
