Found this one on the news site today. This is why people don't want to adopt from shelters!! It makes me quite incensed.
Horry County Animal Shelter to Reimburse Pet Owners
Basically there was a dog that was tested positive for distemper on November 24. The shelter manager was aware of the situation, but did not tell the board of directors. The distemper spread until it became an "outbreak", but they continued adoptions. More than 100 dogs have had to be euthanized. They closed the shelter in December, reopened it in January and then had an outbreak in the cats sector (though it doesn't say what they got - just that 15 cats had to be euthanized).
Asshats. They fired the ones responsible, but that doesn't always fix it. It still happened and many people lost their beloved pets. Asshats. Asshats. Asshats.
4 comments:
Wow, as always, the human race causing the worst of chaos. Did you see the report on that island where they eliminated feral cats, only to find out that wild rabbits are now tearing everything apart on their path? We need to learn to be more responsible and count to ten before we make any decisions. Horrible. Thanks for bringing it to our attention...
I'm afraid that is very sad, but true. Not all shelters have clue one on infectious diseases. Not all of them even know what they look like, or how to quarantine.
At the shelter I worked, two puppies kept in "quarantine", one had distemper, one not. They could touch each other through the bars.
My kittens from this shelter had the worst case of coccidiosis that my DVM had ever seen. They diarrhea pooped and pooped and pooped. $$$$ later, and they were ok. My house, not so much.
Kudos to you for mentioning these problems. Now, what to DO?
Luckily, our OSPCA shelter is reasonably well-run. Training and awareness?
That they continued to adopt is appalling.
Quarantine is really tough, but a necessary evil.
Really hard work, too.
Boo-hiss. Now THAT is poor mgmt.
I could understand not knowing how to see signs of infectious diseases - not everyone working with animals knows the signs for every disease - BUT the fact is that they had tests that showed positive results for distemper and they continued adopting.
(Have I mentioned yet that one of my biggest pet peeves is incompetence?)
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