Queanbeyan Pound forced to euthanise all dogs after canine parvovirus outbreak

An animal management facility in southeastern NSW has been forced to euthanise all 21 dogs housed there after an outbreak of canine parvovirus.

An animal management facility has been forced to euthanise all 21 dogs housed there due to a “distressing” outbreak of canine parvovirus.

The Queanbeyan Pound in southeastern NSW was closed on October 10 after a surrendered dog tested positive to the fatal virus, which then “spread rapidly” between the 20 other dogs.

The disease, which is spread by direct contact with infected dogs and their faeces, or contact with contaminated surfaces, attacks the animal’s intestines and destroys white blood cells. Symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, appetite loss, lethargy, weakness and fever.

“The facility is not an animal hospital and with veterinary advice and attendance, we made the difficult but necessary decision to have all the dogs euthanised,” a Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) spokesperson shared in a post on Facebook.

“We would like to thank the local veterinary community for their support and expertise over the last week.”

The Queanbeyan Pound was closed on October 10 after a surrendered dog tested positive to the fatal virus, which then 'spread rapidly' between the 20 other dogs. Picture: Facebook

The facility has been closed to the public until further notice so that a deep clean can be undertaken, given the virus can survive for up to one year in an environment.

“While canine parvovirus is not an airborne virus, nor travels through soil, part of the deep clean includes removing contaminated soil from the facility,” the QPRC spokesperson continued.

“Removing the contaminated soil is vital to ensure the facility will be safe when it reopens, even if this means we are closed for longer than we would like to be.

“We would like to remind the community that canine parvovirus is a very serious disease. The disease came to the facility through a surrendered dog, which means parvovirus is in the community.

“We strongly encourage our community to ensure their dogs are vaccinated, and to be alert and keep an eye on their dog’s health.”

‘We strongly encourage our community to ensure their dogs are vaccinated, and to be alert and keep an eye on their dog’s health.’

Research by veterinarian Dr Mark Kleman in 2018 found the overall reported euthanasia rate of dogs with parvovirus across more than 40,000 cases between 2015 and 2016 was 41 per cent.

QRPC General Manager Rebecca Ryan told the ABC that as well as the deep clean, design changes will also be made at Queanbeyan Pound to reduce the risk of similar infectious disease outbreaks in the future.

“Our infection control and separation of the dogs needs a redesign and that’s why we’ve now got the facility closed so that we can set up the facility so that dogs don’t actually interact with each other and cross paths,” Ms Ryan said.

All dogs previously rehomed after living at the facility are fully vaccinated.

Originally published as Queanbeyan Pound forced to euthanise all dogs after canine parvovirus outbreak