MESA, AZ — Maricopa County Animal Care and Control’s east shelter in Mesa have temporarily closed its doors as of Monday, due to a possible viral disease outbreak among its dogs.
Last week, Kim Powell, a spokesperson for MCACC, said eight dogs tested positive for distemper and had to put down five dogs because of the viral disease.
As of Thursday, November 3, MCACC said it had to put down an additional six dogs that tested for distemper in the last week. That’s in addition to the five they put down in the last month. This means there are a total of 11 dogs that’ve been put down because of the virus.
The shelter says distemper is a highly contagious viral disease that affects a dog’s respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems. Dogs can be asymptomatic or they can also show symptoms, including fever, lethargy, eye and nasal discharge as well as neurological ticks.
The virus is easily transmitted, which Powell says can spread within a 25-foot radius through coughs, sneezes, saliva, urine, and feces. With dogs barking in their kennel all day, Powell says it can spread quickly.
Of the roughly 300 dogs the shelter has in its care right now, 100 are showing possible symptoms. MCACC will close its doors on Monday to start testing all the dogs, but it will remain open through the weekend.
“We’re closing on Sunday at 5 p.m. because right now, we’re waiting for the tests to arrive here. We have to send a test to the lab. The lab doesn’t work on the weekends, unfortunately,” Powell said. “Monday is the best day for us to start those tests, send them off in the exact same week. In the meanwhile, we’re hoping that the dogs who have been here for a long time, who have been vaccinated, they’ve gotten their boosters, we’re hoping the public can come in and adopt them, get them out of here.”
Powell says unvaccinated dogs are more likely to get the virus, which they believe an unvaccinated dog, who was out on the streets, brought it in.
The shelter is being cleaned in the meantime and volunteers cannot take dogs on a walk to prevent the spread of the virus.
“There’s no treatment for distemper, unfortunately. You can treat them to make them more comfortable, but there’s unfortunately, no cure for it,” she said. “Very few dogs actually recover from it and the ones that do survive distemper have long-lasting symptoms and a lot of time it’s neurological symptoms for the rest of their lives.”
In allowing people to come adopt the dogs for free until the shelter closes on Monday, Powell says they are giving people advice on what to do with the dog should it show symptoms or test positive.
Those adopting are also signing waivers, as they usually do whenever they adopt a dog from any of its locations.
“We do recommend if you are bringing a dog home from a shelter, especially in this situation, to isolate them away from your other pet for at least a couple of days and at least until their PCR test comes back to make sure they’re not positive,” she said.
It’s also important to make sure dogs at home are vaccinated, Powell adds.
Kristine Nutt, who heard about the possible outbreak, came on Friday afternoon to adopt a dog, hoping to give it a safer place to stay.
She tells ABC15 she knows of the risks and took it to a vet right after adopting a three-year-old German Shepherd named Samantha.
“I just read about her [online]. There was no real reason they gave her up, she’s housebroken, she likes dogs cats kids, everything. It just didn’t make any sense. She’s three years old. That’s not a dog that needs to be euthanized. I really felt like it called at my heart to come down and adopt,” Nutt said.
The shelter says it will continue to allow adoptions throughout the weekend, though people interested can only view the dog through the kennel.
Powell said they are asking for people to volunteer and help at its West Valley shelter as well since they will be having more intake there.
You can also donate any items to dogs that can be used in the kennel, such as bones and toys to keep the dogs busy since they cannot go on walks until they get negative tests.
Powell said they plan to isolate dogs who test negative away from the ones who test positive.
There is no word yet on when the East Valley shelter plans to reopen.
