Major Parvo outbreak in Michigan, hundreds of dogs dying

Hundreds of dogs in Pontiac, Inkster dying in parvo outbreak
Unvaccinated pets living outdoors most vulnerable
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • AUGUST 3, 2009



Hundreds of dogs, mainly puppies, are dying in Pontiac and Inkster because of an outbreak of parvovirus, a virulent disease that is easy to prevent and expensive to treat, veterinarians and animal protection workers said Sunday.

"This is the worst outbreak I've seen in Pontiac in the 20 years I've been working here," said Pam Porteous, manager of the Animal Care Network, which operates in Pontiac and Inkster. She said she has been told by shelter workers that Detroit and Flint have outbreaks, too.

She said her group has been averaging 20 calls a day this summer from pet owners whose dogs have come down with the malady. Dogs are infected by contact with feces from contaminated dogs and often die three days after symptoms appear.

Porteous said some 300 dogs have died in Pontiac alone this summer.

more:
http://www.freep.com/article/20090803/NEWS06/908030326/Hundreds-of-dogs-in-Pontiac--Inkster-dying-in-parvo-outbreak

I lost a dog to parvo 20 years ago.:cry: Make sure your dog's shots are up to date!

soon after she bought them from a breeder. Even today, it hurts to think about it.

Thinking about these dog's down-state, I suppose much of it has to do with our economy. Less visits to the vet for shots, neutering/spaying, and abandonment.

My friend at work felt bad for me and brought me a little gold pup, female, from a litter that she'd rescued from her vet's office in Warrensburg. She placed them all, saved mine for last, and Mary and I took the puppy straight to the vet. I said to give her anything, inoculations etc., that she needed. But then I got a call in the morning. ;(

And poor Charlotte had to call all the rest of the people. Parvo is roughest on puppies and senior dogs. My little Jackie Pup got the rest of his inoculations two weeks ago. He needed another re-check on his tummy, had the same thing, yet again. ;(

She stayed at the clinic for a week while we were ago and was dead a week after we returned home. We had to put her down - Roots was 12 years old. I adored that dog and cried for a month.

I nursed her and the rest of the litter - my aunt called me and told me they all had mumps and would die and I said no way. I literally fed them glucose and then milk to keep them alive while the vet treated them for mumps and she told me to pick which ever one I liked. Roots had already chosen me.

We were going to sue the bastards, but we had already lost our beloved dog.

and getting the word out. A parvo shot is around $5 or 6 in hard costs.

People scrimping on veterinary care.

Lots of poor people lost their dogs. The one and only vet in town, the only vet in 40 miles had prices so high that many simply could not afford the shots, $165 was the price of getting shots for your dog from this man. My new 5 week old chihuahua puppy developed parvo during this time. The "doctor" refused to even touch my dog until he had $300 dollars up front, so my girlfriend left his office and came to my work where I wrote out a check. By the time she got back to his office he had left on a week end trip to run in some marathon, none of the other vets within a hundred miles wanted to come in on a friday evening for a puppy that was doomed. My little puppy died a horrible death on my bedroom floor two days later. No dog is at greater risk than a five week old puppy that has lost his inherited imunity and is still too young for shots. I know that Buddy would have probably still died from Parvo but for that vet to abandon him like that still just burns me up.