COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dogs at the Columbia Animal Shelter are sick because of a respiratory illness outbreak.
City officials tell us they believe it was brought in from an outside source and now they're dealing with treatment efforts against canine pneumovirus.
They said it's spread through saliva and nasal discharge, with symptoms of cough, loss of appetite, lethargic behavior, sneezing, runny nose and fever.
So for now and the next two weeks, they're only taking dogs who are sick, injured or suffering from an animal cruelty case.
Michael Sniezek, the general manager of the animal rescue Final Victory said these outbreaks travel fast in shelters.
"In a shelter environment it's so easily transmitted because dogs are constantly being moved places, dogs coming in, dogs going out," Sniezek said.
He's said he's hopeful this will pass in about three or so weeks.
"They have it already under control. I was there today, picking up three dogs from them, one of which has actually the virus. We had already committed to her and she had it, so she's under quarantine right now," Sniezek said.
He said he'll quarantine this dog an extra ten or so days since they have the space to do so at the animal rescue.
The Columbia Animal Shelter tells News 19 they are currently treating the sick dogs with antibiotics and extra fluids while being closely monitored by their vet.
"I know that that decision was incredibly difficult to make, but I sincerely feel like they made the right call on this," said Brittin Padgett, veterinary practice manager at PetCare of Newberry and founder of Saving Saluda Strays.
Padgett said the biggest prevention of these scenarios, i.e. the mass spread of animal illness is by getting your pets fixed.
"By spaying and neutering your pet, you can reduce the number of unwanted litters and decrease the burden on shelters, rescue organizations like mine and other animal facilities," Padgett said.
According to these animal experts, as long as your dog at home is up to date on vaccinations and preventative medicine, they should not be impacted at all by this outbreak.