The Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter is into its second week of quarantine, as another outbreak of parvo has hit the facility in Franklin County. The quarantine will last through February 14.
From the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter Facebook page...
“Once again we have to announce a two-week parvo quarantine. It’s only been one month in 2019 and we’ve already taken in over 200 animals. Out of all those, only six have been up to date on all of their vaccines. That means less than three percent of our intakes have had their vaccines. We try our hardest to provide the best care for our animals, but unfortunately because we are a public intake facility we do get animals in with issues that we are not aware of for several days. A stray was brought in to us by animal control that seemed to be in perfect health, but within a couple of days started showing signs of parvo.
“As some of you know, parvo is a highly contagious disease. Non-vaccinated dogs are highly susceptible to it and strays can carry it all over town. Because of this, no matter how well we sanitize our entire shelter there is always a chance of spreading it quickly. As it can take up to five days for symptoms to show, we vaccinate all of our intakes as soon as they come into to the door but if they are already carrying it, vaccines will not prevent that.
“We have passed every one of our inspections through the department of agriculture. Nothing we have done has made this happen. We are a very high intake facility and we are very sorry for this inconvenience. We hope that everyone will understand that this is not preventable and we sincerely apologize to our community. We understand this is a very stressful time for you but it is also a very stressful time for us.”