Agenda - 10-01-2002-10a - Laserfiche WebLink

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Background Information Orange County Animal Shelter September 24, 2002 Disease Management at the Shelter There have been concerns expressed that poor disease management practices exist at the shelter and that animals are going to new homes that have contracted a disease at the shelter. There has been an outbreak of panleukopenia in cats at various shelters across the country over the past year. The Buncombe County Animal Shelter experienced an outbreak in January 2002, suspended cat and kitten adoptions and purged the shelter of all cats. Wake County also had an outbreak of panleukopenia but chose not to suspend cat and kitten adoptions. The Orange County Animal Shelter had its first case in May 2002. They immediately consulted with their veterinarian and several local vets and the Rollins Animal Laboratory at NC State University. Additional disinfection measures were instituted, including footbaths at the entrance to all shelter wings, hand sanitizers near cages, and installation of plexiglass fronts on cat cages to prevent touching of cats. In June, the height of the outbreak at the shelter, the cat room was closed and all the kittens and cats in the room were presumed infected and euthanized. The shelter reports that there has only been one case thus far in September. In an effort to assess shelter disease management practices further, Orange County asked two veterinarians to examine current practices at the shelter and provide a report of their findings to the County. Dr. Richard Fish, an infectious disease specialist with the NCSU School of Veterinary Sciences, and Dr. Dwight Bellinger, Director of Animal Research Laboratories at UNC at Chapel Hill, examined practices at the shelter on September 17, Their report has been prepared and submitted to the Health Director for review and discussion with APS. Full Assessment of Shelter Operations It has been ten years since animal shelter and animal control services have been studied. In 1992, the Orange County Commissioners appointed an 11 member study committee comprised of county residents to study the two agencies and make recommendations. There has never been an independent, external assessment of the animal shelter operations since its inception in 1979. An external assessment would provide an unbiased view of shelter operations and provide benchmarks with other organizations providing shelter services nationwide. The assessment would provide recommendations for program improvements, public interaction, and future considerations for programming and for eventual shelter replacement. This would be an important step for developing a long-range plan for both animal sheltering services and animal control.