Wakulla County Animal Services works to contain Parvo outbreak


Animals inside the Wakulla County Animal Service facility would normally be up for adoption but right now, no animal can be adopted. The reason, a parvo outbreak and animals have to quarantine. Watch the video to see how long this will impact the shelter’s ability to get animals adopted again while they contain a highly contagious and potentially deadly virus.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

We knew we wanted to get this dog her name was Midnight, but we changed her name to Diamond. Shes so cute she really loved us right from the start.

After Amy Young adopted her dog Diamond from Wakulla Animal Services October 26th, a short while later, she noticed something was wrong.

It was good when we first took her home she was jumping and playing but Sunday morning she started vomiting and vomiting.

She took her to Crawfordville Animal Hospital where Diamond tested positive for Parvovirus.

They took her in and I was kind of frantic about that because from what I heard from someone at the shelter, but no one contacted me from the shelter.

Tuesday, Wakulla Animal Services announced a parvo outbreak at the facility.

They say theyve quarantined all animals and closed their doors to protect animals and the public.

I spoke with Dr. Kyle Marsh at Crawfordville Animal Hospital whos no stranger to treating dogs with parvo.

Dr. Marsh says he and other vets regularly give the shelter health guidance.

Shelters are a difficult situation because unwanted animals are being dumped off and theyre taking in strays so shelters are always a bit of a hotspot for anything beyond parvo as well so right now what were what theyre doing is limiting the spread into the county.

Dr. Marsh says hes seen other cases in the community and limiting contact and cleaning will help stop the spread.

Wakulla Animal Services says they encourage the public to take steps to protect their pets by ensuring vaccinations are up to date and being aware of Parvo symptoms, such as lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite.

They have since implemented a strict cleaning, disinfecting, and care protocol.

No dogs have been euthanized since the shelter closed.

They also said three dogs are showing symptoms and being closely watched, but none are in critical condition.

Our community has to help that shelter because its gone downhill and everybody has to come together and help out that shelter because we need it the animals the animals need it.

At this time we don’t know when the quarantine will be lifted or how many dogs at the facility tested positive for parvo.

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