Marion Animal Shelter reopen after deadly parvo outbreak

Marion Animal Shelter reopen after deadly parvo outbreak

Director thanks community for help with ‘ heartbreaking’ situation

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion animal shelter is once again accepting animals following a deadly outbreak of parvo which claimed the lives of two litters of puppies and forced them to close their doors for a week.

Animal control director Bobbie “Mickey” Edrington said they identified the parvovirus last Wednesday in about 15 puppies — mostly labs — and immediately stopped taking in dogs.

“We stopped intake of animals last Wednesday and are just now accepting animals.’ Parvovirus is a highly contagious illness that affects puppies. The illness is characterized by vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and lack of appetite. Dogs typically become infected by coming into contact with infected feces or soil that has been contaminated. Mortality rates can reach 91 percent in untreated cased.

Edrington said 14 of the 15 puppies had to be euthanized.

“We had one survivor and that puppy is being quarantined,” Edrington said.

The virus can only be killed by using bleach.

“We probably went through 200 bottles of bleach,” Edrington said.

Edrington said Arkansas has been particularly hard hit this year by parvo.

“Parvo is not uncommon in this area,” Edrington said.

Most likely the illness was spread by one of the puppies they took in.

Edrington said she has worked with animal rescues in the past and has seen cases of parv, but this was her first encounter with the illness.

“It’s stuns your heart to see,” Edrington said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

She thanked the community for donating the needed supplies to help combat the illness.

“We are very, very grateful to the community and to everyone who stepped up and donated cleaning supplies,” Edrington said. “We couldn’t have done it without community support.”

By Mark Randall