Bonnie Hays Dog Adoption Closure Extended

For Immediate Release: Monday, April 23, 2012

Bonnie Hays Dog Adoptions Closed Until at Least Tuesday, April 24

The outbreak of an upper respiratory illness among the dogs at the Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter is still a concern, so the adoption program will be closed until at least Tuesday, April 24.

"The good news is that the animals who've come down with the virus have responded extremely well to antibiotics, and are definitely on the mend. However, because this has been quite contagious among the shelter dogs, we are being very cautious," says Deborah Wood, manager of Animal Services for Washington County. "We are optimistic that we'll feel comfortable adopting out the dogs that were sick and have responded to treatment on Tuesday, but we are taking this one day at a time."

The dog adoption program was closed on Thursday, April 19,when several dogs in the shelter developed an upper respiratory infection.

"When dogs are housed close to each other, infections can carry easily from dog-to-dog. This is a lot like several children in a classroom all coming down with a virus at the same time. We expect all the dogs to get well quickly, but until we're confident that we understand how long the infection will last and make sure we're treating the dogs effectively, we think it's prudent to keep everyone with us for a while," says Deborah Wood, manager of Animal Services for Washington County.

The shelter is taking full precautions to reduce spread of the infection, including isolating dogs with symptoms from other animals, doing a specialized disinfecting regimen, and ensuring that there is no cross-contamination as staff go from one dog to another.

The Bonnie Hays shelter will continue to accept stray dogs and cats and return stray dogs and cats to their owners during this time.

The cat adoption program will remain open, since cats have not been affected by this upper respiratory infection.

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