Schenectady dog shelter to reopen after parvo case

PHOTOGRAPHER: Patrick Dodson

Animal Control officer Cindy Bialobzeski pets a dog at the city animal shelter in this file image from Sept. 9, 2014.

The city’s animal shelter is expected to reopen later this week after a dog was discovered last week with parvo, a highly contagious and often fatal canine disease, police said.

The disease was discovered after an animal control officer noticed the dog was having trouble, city police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken said. The dog was immediately taken to a veterinarian and tested positive for parvo.

It underwent treatment and has since recovered, McCracken said.

The parvo diagnosis led to a complete scrubbing and quarantine at the shelter, McCracken said. Dogs that would normally be at the shelter are being housed in the meantime at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in Menands.

McCracken said he expects the quarantine to be lifted later this week.

McCracken said each dog that arrives at the shelter without a verifiable medical history is given a distemper shot that includes a vaccine for parvo. The city previously has had to scrub down the shelter and quarantine it because of another dog that had parvo, police officials said in September.

The city started providing the shots that month after negotiating a lower cost for them. Activists had pushed for the vaccine to prevent further problems with parvo at the shelter.

McCracken also said the shelter passed a regular inspection by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets on Wednesday. It was one of a series of inspections the shelter has passed.

Details weren’t available from the state on Wednesday’s inspection, but officials said in September no deficiencies were found.

Animal activists have alleged inhumane conditions at the shelter, which is on the grounds of the city’s sewage treatment facility on Anthony Street, but city officials have said they have worked closely with state officials to ensure the shelter continues to pass inspections.