Calgary animal shelter hopeful contagious virus is controlled after dog euthanized

A quarantine is ongoing at the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS), but shelter representatives are hopeful the worst is behind them.

Staff were forced to euthanize a Havanese dog suffering from canine distemper last weekend.

Canine distemper is an airborne virus that affects the respiratory, digestive and nervous systems.

"Unfortunately, the dog who first tested positive went into the final stages of the disease," said Niki Vlooswyk with AARCS. "It starts as a respiratory illness and then moves into the central nervous system. Once it does, there's really nothing that can be done."

The dog, named Licorice, would have been subject to "painful and terrifying" symptoms as part of the disease, including seizures and paralysis.

Having reached the stage where no further assistance could be provided, staff made the decision to euthanize humanely.

"It's really hard on our volunteers and our staff who are doing the caregiving. That puppy was in a really experienced foster home, and it's always difficult for them, too," Vlooswyk said. "But it's sadly something that comes along with rescue."

Seventy-two Havanese dogs were seized from an alleged Edmonton puppy mill in July and were transferred to Alberta shelters, including AARCS.

A full quarantine started Aug.14 at AARCS when it was discovered that Licorice had presented symptoms of distemper.

As part of the quarantine, staff moved as many dogs as possible into quarantined foster homes.

Intake was closed, and only staff and volunteers were allowed into the facility to care for the dogs present.

"This is what our facility is designed for, and we've dealt with distemper before and been fairly successful," Vlooswyk said. "So we're hopeful at this point, given that we haven't seen any additional positive tests, that we've got this controlled."

The rehoming process at AARCS has been delayed for all animals at the shelter as a result of the quarantine process.

"I think our biggest message from this is please vaccinate your pets. This could be so easily preventable with the three vaccines and the annual update," Vlooswyk said. "Don't buy dogs off Kijiji. It could basically be a puppy mill situation."

The animals that were exposed to the virus are doing well, Vlooswyk said, aside from a few cases of kennel cough.

Provided the shelter sees no more positive tests of canine distemper, Aug.28 will be the last day of quarantine.