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Hello,
Thank you so much for your reply re the sick puppy. I really appreciate it.
Just to let you know, the dogs in the shelter are not isolated from each other. I read from the net that the distemper virus is airborne. Thus, I am afraid that most of the dogs there will be already infected. All the dogs there are caged up in one area and my puppy was also there, even though he was sick.
When I took my puppy home, he had two sisters with him in the shelter. When I went back to the centre when he was sick, there was only one left. When I asked about the other female, the caretaker told me she was also euthanized due to some illness, but they didn't tell me what it was.
Even for my own puppy, they didn't bother to explain to me why they want to euthanize him. The only answer I got was he's very sick and can't survive. Even the vet didn't bother explaining to me, which I think was a very unfair act towards me because it's my baby that they're going to put to sleep.
Do you think I can do anything to help the other dogs there? I badly think something must be done to help them. I hope you can advise. - Selvi
Hello Selvi,
It sounds very much like the puppies had distemper. It is not right that you were not told what was wrong with your puppy and for anyone else in that situation, they must insist on knowing what is wrong. If they still meet resistance then they should threaten to take the puppy to another vet (and make sure they actually do that if they need to).
I think the vet would be very reluctant to tell anyone that the shelter had allowed the dogs to get distemper because they know very well that this is one disease that can wipe out all dogs in a place like a shelter where they are all together and it is very preventable. The shelter should screen every new puppy that arrives and inocculate them straight away for such diseases because most young puppies arriving at a shelter would not have been given any immunity yet.
Probably most of the older dogs in the shelter would be already inocculated from their previous owners, so only a few that had never been vaccinated would be at risk of getting the disease. But it is a very bad disease for puppies to get and most of them would die from it. This could be the fault of the vet if he or she is working full time at the shelter, or perhaps the vet is also a volunteer and goes to the shelter only when called by the management or for a few set hours weekly, and if so, the fault is in very bad management of the shelter. They should have put any sick animals in isolated kennels as soon as they got sick, and should never mix any new dogs with those already found to be healthy until the vet has examined them, vaccinated them if required and found them to be healthy.
You asked what you can do to help them - I think most shelters do what they can, with very little money. Most rely on public funding and are run by well-intentioned people who try very hard to do their best for the dogs but many have no idea what dogs require for health because they are not trained. So shelters usually require two things - more money and more volunteers. Many vets give some time every week free of charge to shelters, but if the vet in this case kept quiet about distemper the reason was probably that the alternative for these dogs is to remain on the street.
Maybe he or she knows that the shelter needs a separate area for new dogs and another for isolating sick dogs, but building such areas takes money - usually money that the shelters do not have. If more people became involved in the running of the shelters they could keep improving the health and hygiene standards of the shelters and could also keep upgrading the rules.
Every shelter also needs to have an education/reception area where people who want to adopt dogs can ask what they want to know and also be given information about the basic needs of dogs and how to keep them healthy. Many people want a dog but do not know they need fresh clean water at all times, or what inocculations they need to have, or that they need worm and heartworm pills, or to be combed daily (or feel the skin on all areas) in case they pick up a tick, or that a mosquito bite can give them tapeworm.
I am sure that the managers of the shelter would be very happy if you volunteered any spare time that you may have to perhaps take dogs for a walk, clean out their kennels (here you could be sure they are cleaned very well. However, dogs are also very sensitive to disinfectant and their skin may burn and get rashes if they walk or lie on disinfectant so be sure that everything is totally dry before the dogs go back in the kennels - make sure no splashes of disinfectant go in their water), wash out their water bowls and put fresh water in them, prepare their evening meal (here you can check that they are getting nutritious food), brush the dogs coats (here you can check if they have fleas or ticks and make sure the vet knows which ones need flea treatment) and many other jobs that will be required.
Perhaps you can get a group together to help - you could get about 12-15 people together and have a roster system where two or three people go in to help each day! Another thought - if there is a veterinary school or a university that teaches veterinary subjects or vet nursing near to the shelter sometimes they can be persuaded to take on work in the shelter as part of the course, and then the standard of the shelter must inevitably come up to the standard expected by the university - the shelter would gain a lot of guidance in the standards of care, nutrition, health and welfare and the university would often help to finance upgrades. It is also good training for vet students as they are trained to keep dogs healthy in the most basic of conditions.
Well, I hope that helps and gives you a few ideas of where you can give a helping hand to the shelter and perhaps guide them towards better health systems. You can probably think of a few more ideas yourself. I would be very interested to hear from you again and what you were able to do for them. - Ed
