Stanislaus animal shelter suspends intake due to outbreak of highly infectious illness
Don’t bring any stray dogs you find to the Stanislaus County animal shelter for up to the next three weeks.
The Stanislaus Animal Services Agency has temporarily suspended its stray animal intake because the highly infectious disease strepotococcus zooepidemicus (known as strep zoo) has been found at the shelter. The respiratory illness can spread quickly among dogs and is often fatal.
Animal Services announced the findings Thursday and immediately suspended stray intake. Executive Director Vaughn Maurice said in an emailed press release that, “Due to this strep zoo outbreak, severe respiratory disease, and an overcrowded shelter environment, SASA has temporarily suspended accepting stray dogs.”
To prevent the spread of the disease, healthy stray dogs will not be accepted at the shelter for up to 21 days.
Maurice said all dogs at the shelter have been treated for the illness. Healthy dogs remain available for adoption during this time. Adoption also is being encouraged as a way to help stop the disease’s spread in the shelter.
Animal Services has asked the public to take initiative to help stray dogs find their owners while intake is suspended. The release said studies show 92% of stray dogs have a home.
“(Animal Services) is asking the public to help those animals get back to those homes. Allowing the dog to enter the shelter could be dangerous for that dog,” Maurice said in the release.
He suggested people who find strays during this time try to locate their owners by “talking to neighbors, hanging neighborhood posters or posting on Facebook lost-and-found pet pages, Craigslist, Nextdoor or other lost pet websites.”
For more information, visit www.stanislausanimalservices.com.
This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 4:14 PM.
