The Cambria County Humane Society opened back up to the public Wednesday, after three stray dogs with parvovirus came to the shelter.
Parvovirus is a highly contagious illness that affects the intestinal tract in dogs. The executive director, Jessica Bonachea, said she closed the kennel to the public at the end of April to make sure the other dogs didn’t catch the virus.
“If someone brought those dogs in and I pet them and then touched a door handle and you came in after me and touched that door handle and I don’t know what you touched afterwards,” said Jessica Bonachea, the executive director of the Cambria County Humane Society. “We just wanted to give the dogs in general population a quarantine to make sure everybody was healthy before they went home to new families.”
There is no cure for parvovirus, so shelter employees said prevention is key. They’re cleaning with bleach and staying up to date on vaccination procedures. The shelter will also start screening dogs outside.
“We’re trying to do physical examinations in the parking lot before they come into the lobby so there’s no. I’d hate for someone come in with a sick dog and someone else try to adopt one and they touch noses,” said Bonachea.
Bonachea said the sick dogs are responding well to treatment and none of the dogs in the general population have shown symptoms of parvovirus.
The three dogs still in quarantine have a few more weeks before the veterinarian can give them the go-ahead to be adopted.