Lorenzo Hall

12:43 p.m. EDT, June 21, 2011
CBS 6 Reporter, Anchor—
        Richmond, VA (WTVR)-  It’s back to business as usual Tuesdsay at the Louisa County Animal Shelter. The staff says, all animals are fit for adoption. This comes after fear of a possible canine parvovirus outbreak at the shelter.

      Service Director at the Shelter, Kevin Linhares says, they closed for two weeks just as a precaution after two puppies died from parvo. Shortly after the temporary closure, a veterinarian confirmed the death of a third puppy due to the virus.  Linhares says other owners have called, saying their puppies were showing signs of illness from the virus, but, those cases haven’t been confirmed.

     Linhares tells CBS 6, the puppies that died likely contracted the virus before they were dropped off at the shelter.

    Parvo is a highly contagious virus that spreads from dog to dog after exposure to their feces. Linhares says during the last several days, staff members and volunteers have been monitoring all the animals and scrubbing down the shelter with bleach.

     They also tested all the dogs Monday night for parvo and those tests came back negative. Linhares says this is why owners should get their pets vaccinated and clean up after dogs when taking them for a walk.

       Linhares also tells CBS 6,  they don’t usually test for parvo when animals are brought to the shelter, unless they show some of the symptoms. Those symptoms include fatigue and troubled breathing. However, he says that will now change. Moving forward, they will test all puppies coming into the shelter