Animals at Suffolk shelter to receive vaccinations on arrival

SUFFOLK

The city's animal control personnel will vaccinate animals when they arrive at its shelter, a step that could help prevent another outbreak of parvovirus like the one that closed the facility Saturday.

Twelve dogs, including three puppies, were euthanized after testing positive for the highly contagious virus.

Until this week, a veterinarian vaccinated new arrivals once a week, meaning some pets waited for days at the Suffolk shelter without shots. A bill passed by Virginia lawmakers this year gives animal control the power to administer the vaccines, city spokeswoman Debbie George said.

She said the shelter put the policy in place this week but has been working on it for some time. No more canines have been euthanized since Suffolk announced the parvovirus outbreak Tuesday, nor have there been any new signs of illness, George said.

The facility lacks the space to separate new animals from the general population - a step the Humane Society of the United States says can help prevent the spread of diseases such as parvo.

"We do not have the luxury of having different wings," George said, although a proposed expansion of the shelter would offer such an area. She said there is some funding available for the addition.

Virginia Beach's shelter began quarantining new animals after an outbreak of the parvovirus there this spring. Twenty-four dogs with the disease were eventually euthanized, and 15 more were put down because of space constraints that resulted from parvo.

The virus was first discovered in the Virginia Beach shelter when a Pomeranian dog died from it.

The first sign of a problem at the Suffolk shelter came late last week when a newly adopted 10-week-old puppy fell ill.

Brenda Cole said she brought the black and brown Rottweiler mix home June 23. The family named him Obi. Two days later, he tested positive for parvo when Cole took him to a veterinarian. Cole said she spent nearly $1,000 on vet care for Obi.

George said the shelter does not test for the virus.

"An animal can be a carrier and not necessarily test positive," she said. "Our shelter does an excellent job... you just can't accommodate every possibility."

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com