FORT SMITH (KFSM)—Dog adoptions at the Sebastian County Humane Society will be suspended longer than expected because of a distemper outbreak in some of their dogs.
In the last two weeks, 15 dogs at the shelter have been euthanized because they had canine distemper, according to executive director Joseph Sprague .
“It comes in with a stray off the street that brings the disease into the shelter,” Sprague said. “Unfortunately, you don`t catch it right away because it can take up to 10 days for it to come up and start showing symptoms.”
The disease attacks the dogs’ respiratory and nervous systems and has no known cure.
“It`s kind of a slow virus, so it`s not something that real quickly goes from exposure to being sick with it,” Veterinarian Laura Lynch said, “so that`s what makes it kind of difficult to track down and get rid of.”
Lynch said the virus spread through saliva and mucus as well as the air.
“It`s just like kids in daycare,” she said.
Lynch stresses it doesn’t last in the air as long as a virus such as the flu does. Sprague said they tested 30 dogs last week.
“We got the results for those, and we still have five cases that tested positive,” he said.
He said now the state livestock lab is conducting tests on 70 more dogs. If the next round of tests come back negative, he said they will resume dog adoptions.
Sprague said the outbreak has been costly as well. Between paying for extra labor and testing, the SCHS is footing a $8,000-$10,000 bill.