Memphis Shelter Faces Outbreak
An outbreak of distemper has cause the Memphis Animal Shelter to euthanize up to 50 animals.
The animals were destroyed on Saturday, according The Commercial Appeal.
Shelter director Matt Pepper says workers did the best they could to protect other animals. City Veterinary Medicine Director Dr. Rebecca Coleman said euthanizing the animals wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Virginia Zisson, who adopted a shelter dog that later had to be euthanized because of distemper, said shelter officials should have quarantined the dogs, rather than destroying them. Zisson says it was overreaction.
Dr. Angie Zinkus of the Germantown Parkway Animal Hospital says the distemper virus is highly contagious.
Both vets say the underlying problem is that a lot of pets in the city have not been inoculated.
