City of Roswell Animal Services has temporarily stopped taking in pets from the public to address an unusually high presence of upper respiratory infections that was discovered on Wednesday, Sept. 27. This was in conjunction with a report from a local veterinarian that canine distemper virus (CDV) was identified in a dog from the shelter. The shelter will revisit opening its doors to new animals after test results come back and any health concerns are mitigated.
The shelter will continue to handle emergency animal-control cases such as bite cases or cruelty investigations and may impound dogs that pose a threat to the community or are in need of emergency intervention.
During this closure, the shelter staff will continue to work diligently to provide necessary care and treatment to the affected dogs in coordination with veterinary professionals, including shelter medicine experts from Best Friends Animal Society. The focus will be on accurately identifying the disease, minimizing the spread of illness, and ensuring the well-being of the animals under our care.
“Any increase in infectious disease in a shelter warrants further investigation and caution, including pausing the intake of community animals to avoid exposing them to a potentially serious illness,” said Dr. Erin Katribe, Medical Director, Best Friends Animal Society. “Unfortunately, canine distemper is
prevalent across the state, and we are working to determine if this is the cause of the illness we are currently seeing. Laboratory testing is pending, and we should know more next week. In the event that distemper is identified in the shelter population, we will coordinate an outbreak response that keeps community pets safe and saves as many lives as possible at the shelter.”
Recently adopted dogs from the shelter should be monitored for signs of illness. Consult a veterinarian with any concerns.
The community is encouraged to ensure their pets are up to date on their vaccinations, which are highly effective at minimizing the risk of diseases like CDV. Pet owners can also help by taking steps to reduce the chances of their pet getting lost and going to the shelter. Additionally, if you find a lost pet, there are steps you can take to reunite them with their owner without taking them to the shelter. Visit
https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/what-do-if-you-find-loose-dog-or-cat for more information.
Roswell Animal Services is located at 705 E. McGaffey St.
About Best Friends Animal Society Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal-welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by 2025. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to around 378,000. Best Friends runs lifesaving programs across the country, as well as the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Working collaboratively with a network of more than 4,400 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to
Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.
Best Friends Animal Society recently started an embed project, where it temporarily placed a Best Friends staff member into a leadership position at Roswell Animal Services to work alongside the city staff and community to support them in reaching no-kill.
For more information on Best Friends Animal Society and our embed program, please visit www.bestfriends.org.