ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The Saint Louis County Animal and Control Adoption Center will remain closed until Sunday after a canine parvovirus outbreak that led to the euthanizing of 19 dogs.
The animal shelter said they are closely monitoring eight positive cases of the virus and reported no new cases at the shelter as of Friday morning.
The shelter reported that in order to prevent any chance of the virus spreading to the entire facility, 19 dogs were humanely euthanized.
“This loss of life is felt deeply by our whole team and has taken a toll on all of us. We never humanely euthanize animals to create more space. This is not an easy job, and we never want to humanely euthanize any animals,” the shelter said in a statement. “We kindly ask our community to treat our staff with compassion and respect as we continue to care for our animals and help them find their forever homes.”
The shelter said it is working to get healthy dogs to rescues while staff members temporarily foster healthy animals.
The American Veterinary Medical Association said canine parvovirus is a highly contagious and deadly dog virus and is spread via dog feces. Symptoms of the virus include lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting, severe and sometimes bloody diarrhea, and a fever.