FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Animal Shelter is under state-ordered quarantine until Sept. 24 after two puppies and an adult dog came down with canine parvovirus this week.

One puppy and the adult dog have died from the virus.

Animal shelters are required to report such cases to the state, and Executive Director Heidi Jordan said Friday that she received the quarantine order Thursday.

If there are no other cases and the state is satisfied with the shelter’s treatment and efforts to help prevent the virus from spreading, the quarantine could end earlier, she said.

The shelter is considering a partial opening to allow for cat adoptions, she said. Cats are not susceptible to the virus.

While the staff doesn’t want any cat to have to stay longer than necessary, concerns about any potential spread from people coming to the shelter and taking the virus home to their pets has to be considered, she said.

On Wednesday, the shelter took seven dogs to a local veterinarian for spaying. Four dogs were spayed before the doctor realized that a puppy, a black lab mix, had the virus.

The remaining three dogs were not spayed, Jordan said.

The shelter was immediately notified to come get the dogs. The puppy died on the way back to the shelter.

The shelter was shut down about noon on Wednesday. The next day, an adult black lab mix also died from the virus, she said.

A second puppy, a Border Collie mix, had been adopted and is being treated by the adoptive family at their home, she said.

The puppies came to the shelter as part of a group bused from Tennessee. 

They could have possibly been exposed there, but shelter workers never know how they contracted the highly contagious canine virus, she said.

The adult dog was local and brought to a separate section of the shelter away from the puppies, she said.

While the puppies had received some distemper vaccinations, a three-shot series, they were not old enough to complete the series, which made them more vulnerable, she said. The parvovirus vaccine is included in the distemper series.

The shelter does not always have vaccination records for local dogs brought to the shelter.

The virus is likened to people having the flu. Once contracted, a flu shot does no good. Jordan said the symptoms are treated.

The dogs at the shelter are being given fluids and penicillin. The staff is making efforts to decrease their stress. Some develop worms and are given dewormers, she said.

“That’s all you can do,” she said about caring for the dogs.

The staff is also cleaning and bleaching the shelter.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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