GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The impact of Minnesota's highly-contagious canine flu outbreak continues to be felt across the Twin Cities landscape, with the latest ripple involving a highly-popular fundraiser.
Next weekend's Animal Humane Society's Walk for Animals (May 6) will be a shadow of it's normal self, as organizers are asking owners to keep their dogs away after guidance Thursday by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.
AHS closed three busy adoption centers on April 9 due to the outbreak, and embarked on a quarantine involving nearly 200 dogs. Investigators found that animals brought in from another facility were likely responsible for introducing the canine influenza to AHS facilities. Veterinary staff say seven dogs had to be put down after being deemed too sick to recovery from canine influenza.
Now the Board of Animal Health's Veronica Bartsch says the virus is showing up outside the AHS, telling KARE 11's Gordon Severson that four cases of canine influenza have been confirmed and more than 100 additional infections possible. "We've been inundated with calls and emails from veterinarians reporting suspected cases," Bartsch said.
Bartsch is urging dog owners to keep their pups away from dog parks and other social situations where the highly-contagious virus could be passed. Those whose dogs are showing symptoms — cough, runny nose, fever, lethargy, eye discharge and reduced appetite — are asked to quarantine their companions for 30 days. The Board of Animal Health is also asking doggie daycares, kennels and shelter operators to take precautions like sanitizing toys, bowls and equipment and washing beds and blankets.
The decision to ask dogs not to attend the Walk for Animals was not one AHS made lightly. It is their biggest yearly fundraiser and the closing of their three facilities has already cost AHD more than a million dollars in lost adoption fees, training classes and veterinary bill-outs.
"It was disappointing to make that call, we definitely didn't want to," reflected Dr. Graham Brayshaw, AHS Directory of Veterinary Medicine. "It is our biggest fundraiser, hundreds of thousands of dollars we usually get through this."
While the 30-day quarantine recommended by the state expires May 9, AHS may stay closed a few additional days just to make sure canine influenza has been tamped down.
The Walk for Animals is set for Saturday, May 6 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Dog owners are encouraged to show up even if their pups can't.
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