SPOKANE, Wash. — Staff inside SpokAnimal are watching and treating 51 dogs who either have, or could become infected with "Kennel Cough."
"Just a really bad case," Executive Director Dori Peck said. "So, we did send testing off to WSU just to see if it was anything else, we have not gotten any results back."
Peck says dogs are responding to antibiotic treatments. Kennel cough can lead to pneumonia, which can be deadly.
"We closed down just to be safe because we don't want people trudging through obviously," Peck said. "We don't want to spread it any more than we have to."
Closing down means pausing adoptions for the time being. It's not something Peck wants to do since the shelter is packed full. Capacity wasn't an issue a few years ago during the COVID pandemic.
"Everybody was home," Peck said. "Everyone was lonely or everybody had time, so everybody adopted. Our adoption numbers were fantastic. But, then everybody started going back to work and the backyard breeders didn't stop breeding and so then you have an over abundance of puppies that nobody is buying, nobody is adopting any more because there's so many."
Adding to the issue, Peck says some people have been dropping off strays at SpokAnimal instead of SCRAPS (Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service) , worried dogs will be euthanized.
"There's just been a lot of misconception about SCRAPS that's very, very unfair and our animal control is so critical to our community," Peck said.
SCRAPS told KREM 2 they will put down dogs deemed too dangerous to adopt, but never due to overcrowding. Peck says dogs taken to SCRAPS have a better chance of being reunited with their owners.
"It's very difficult to have your dog dropped off at SpokAnimal and it should be at animal control and they are looking all over and not finding it and then you know, the animal is adopted out because the time is up," Peck said.
Peck is aware of rumors going around claiming SpokAnimal is going to euthanize its entire population. She said that's absolutely not true. Instead, vets are doing everything they can to get dogs healthy enough for adoption.
"Please choose to adopt," Peck said. "Please choose to support one of your animal welfare rescues, shelters."
KREM 2 asked SpokAnimal how long they plan to stay closed to the public. They said it could be a few days or a week. It just depends on what their vet says.
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