Dogs killed for lack of space during outbreak at Beach shelter

VIRGINIA BEACH

As a deadly viral outbreak at the city animal shelter ran its course in mid-April, Animal Control officers were faced with another problem: crowding.

For five weeks, the shelter mostly stopped dog adoptions to control the spread of the parvovirus. Impounded strays, however, continued to pour in.

The tipping point came April 21, when Lt. Laura Kaiser, who runs the shelter for the Police Department, told staffers to euthanize dogs because the intake area was full.

At least 15 were put down for "space," an indirect result of the virus, records show. Twenty-four had already been euthanized for parvo. In total, 126 dogs were euthanized during the six-week outbreak of the virus because of parvo, space, behavior or other sicknesses. In 2008, the shelter euthanized 433 dogs.

"Capt, we have not been able to get a handle on this situation..." Kaiser wrote to her boss, Capt. Kevin Perry, on March 30, as the crisis peaked. "We have solicited input from all the experts and nobody has any suggestions for us... we need to take some measures (much euthanasia) that may appear to be drastic in the eyes of the community... we are going to take a beating over this. Not to mention the stress level of the staff!! Simply fed up and need a vacation."

Dogs dying because of a lack of space was the sad culmination of the parvovirus outbreak that erupted in late February, an outbreak city officials were unable to control on their own.

Ultimately, the fear of bad publicity and a barrage of criticism from animal advocates - some constructive, some unfounded - pushed city officials to publicly announce the problem and reach out to state veterinarians.

The outbreak started Feb. 20 when an impounded Pomeranian died of the virus. Four more deaths followed, and shelter officials banned outside visitors in an attempt to contain the virus. They didn't want volunteers to spread it within the shelter, which can hold about 100 dogs.

Shelter volunteers, many active in a rescue group called Friends of Virginia Beach Animal Control, were no longer allowed to walk shelter dogs, a popular activity. Angry, group members and others criticized the quarantine decision as unproductive in a flood of e-mails. They suspected more dogs were in danger than officials were letting on.

In March, Animal Control supervisor Juleen Ballance told volunteers in an e-mail that the ban on dog walking would be extended two more weeks. Ballance asked volunteers to stop responding to her messages with advice for controlling parvo.

Instead, they wrote to City Council members.

By mid-March, the virus that was once confined to one wing had spread through the entire kennel. Adoptions ceased.

Police began to consider their public relations strategy. Outside of the small group of shelter volunteers, officials had not told the public about the virus.

On March 15, they exchanged e-mails about what to do.

"My suspicions are that the 'Friends' will be all over this story first thing Monday morning or they will be on the City Manager's door step," Kaiser wrote in an e-mail to police Chief Jake Jacocks Jr., Perry and police spokespeople. "My thoughts are that we put a press release together with all the factual information before the 'friends' can slant it their way."

Jacocks responded: "I concur on having a press release readied... ideally, it will be worded so that it can easily be put on a memo form, so if we decide there is no need for the press release we can still inform the Manager of the situation... he can then share with Council if he so desires."

Almost a month after the first dog died, the city issued a release, telling the public about the problem.

Despite a new vaccination program, infected dogs continued to die. Strays were still coming in but couldn't be adopted. The population grew.

In late March, frustrated and befuddled shelter workers were still looking for help to contain parvo. They e-mailed out-of-town branches of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the head of Old Dominion University's Department of Biological Sciences for ideas to stop the virus.

A SPCA staffer responded with Internet links that a Beach shelter worker forwarded to Ballance.

"This page is particularly interesting, according to it, we shouldn't be rinsing the bleach or the virkon off, we should be letting it air dry," the Beach worker wrote. "Maybe that's what we've been doing wrong. Maybe I am reading this wrong, who knows??"

Meanwhile, Sharon Adams, executive director of the Virginia Beach SPCA, contacted a state veterinarian to ask for help. She said the decision was partly prompted by city concerns that animal advocates were sending anonymous e-mails to the state about dogs "dropping like flies" at the shelter.

The state has cited the city twice in the past year for the 1974 shelter's deteriorating condition. After the problems came to light, the City Council decided to speed up construction on a new shelter.

Animal Control officer and spokesman Wayne Gilbert said shelter officials didn't call the state veterinarian earlier because the city was relying on advice from their hired vet, the SPCA and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"We felt the information we were getting from them was helping us battle the problem," he said.

Dr. Dan Kovich, a state veterinarian, visited the shelter on April 3. One of his main recommendations was to create an intake area for incoming dogs. They would be quarantined two weeks to see if they showed signs of parvo before being transferred into the main shelter for possible adoption.

Shelter officials made the change. Three more dogs contracted parvo and were put down, the last one on April 11. Then the disease stopped.

But the intake area was still filling up with impounded strays. No dog could be moved for two weeks.

On April 21, four days before dogs could be moved from the intake area and be eligible for adoption, Kaiser e-mailed her shelter supervisors about the space crunch.

"This will likely require euthanasia to some extent daily for the time being," she said.

Two dogs were put down that day. On April 24, the day before the deadline, 10 dogs were euthanized for "space," according to a shelter log.

Animal advocates said they didn't know dogs were euthanized for space.

"It's a shame," Adams said. "They couldn't adopt them, and they couldn't transfer them, and animals were coming in the door. That's the tragedy.

Elaine Swarts, an animal rescue volunteer not affiliated with the Friends group, said the city should have diverted incoming animals to other shelters or animal rescue groups.

"There may not be a home for every animal, but you have to give them a chance," she said.

The city can't stop taking in strays, Gilbert said.

The shelter reopened fully for adoptions April 27. On Wednesday, 46 dogs were in the intake area. The space holds 57.

Gilbert said the city will reach out to animal advocacy groups to handle overflow dogs.

"We are going to look at all avenues for moving animals quickly," he said. "Euthanization is going to continue to be the very last step to create space."

Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122, aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com