By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

Mom’s chicken noodle soup, a warm blanket and tissues won’t help a dog with cold symptoms. But workers at Kennebunk’s Animal Welfare Society giving sick dogs some much-needed tender love and care appear to be doing just the trick.
Since early November the shelter has quarantined 29 dogs that have distemper, a highly contagious viral infection.
“Shelters commonly see respiratory disease. It’s common in stressed environments where there are new and different things happening to them,” said Kerrie Robinson, director of development at the shelter.
After noticing in August some of the dogs seemed sick and had a cough, the shelter worked with local veterinarian Christ Angelos, Mann Memorial Clinic in Arundel and Miranda Spindel, a veterinarian with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to diagnosis the problem. In October, the results were in: distemper.
“The 29 dogs exposed are on hold in quarantine. Any other dogs are available for adoption. We are not closed for adoption,” Robinson said.
The dogs were moved to 23 kennels for 90 days because distemper can spread for up to three months, even if they appear healthy. Co-manager Bobbi Allen said the virus spreads easily, even through something as unsuspecting as dogs being walked with the same leash.
While in quarantine, the shelter has set up a temporary play area for the dogs, and the animals have constant attention and daily obedience training from two full-time staff members.
“They’re not just locked up in a room,” Allen said.
While Allen and Robinson said the quarantine has not affected other adoptions at the shelter – they said most dogs usually are adopted within a week – especially puppies, which are hard to find in Maine.
Robinson couldn’t estimate how much the quarantine is costing the shelter in addition to the cost of two of the shelter’s 25 full-time and part-time employees who are staying with the dogs.
“[The cost] depends on how much is donated – food, peanut butter, hotdogs – or are we going out and having to buy these things,” Robinson said.
Hannaford in Buxton dropped off food last Thursday afternoon and the staff members say they have seen a recent increase in donations.
Without the treatment provided to the dogs, distemper can lead to pneumonia or permanent neurological problems. Two ailing dogs at the shelter were euthanized because of neurological problems.
The canine distemper virus cannot be treated once the animal is infected. The disease does not affect humans but can only be spread through some species of wildlife, such as wolves and skunks.
“It could be local wildlife issue; distemper is everywhere,” Allen said.
The outbreak at the shelter also may have come from one of the many dogs from across the country the shelter adopts. Paws Across America, the shelters’ organization that works with different shelters across the U.S. to help with overcrowding, especially in the southern states – Kennebunk’s has 45 kennels.
Distemper can be avoided if a dog has received its vaccination.
“If your dog’s vaccinated, you’re all set. It’s not something to skimp on right now,” Robinson said.
The shelter had to test all dogs that had been exposed to distemper and more than half the local dogs had no vaccine to help their immune systems fight off the illness.
Dogs that are vaccinated can be around sick dogs. Many members of the shelter who already have dogs are helping by taking one or more of the sick animals home to foster until the end of the quarantine.
Jocelyn Layman has been working with the quarantined dogs for three days and has adopted one and is fostering another. Layman has three other dogs at home, but is comfortable playing with the sick dogs all day because her pets have been vaccinated.
“We all have multiple animals at home; none of us here are scared to be around these animals. We’re working with these dogs all day,” said Allen.
The dogs that recover will be available for adoption around Feb.1. Photos of the quarantined dogs will be available at www.animalwelfaresociety.or for about a week before they are ready for adoption.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.