We have an emergency, and we are reaching out to our closest friends for your help. There has been a devastating canine parvovirus outbreak at our Oglethorpe shelter, putting the 83 dogs currently in our care at risk of becoming sick and potentially of death. Parvo is a virus that attacks a dog’s immune system and gastrointestinal tract. It’s incredibly contagious, and there is no cure. Once a dog becomes infected, we can only treat the symptoms until the dog’s immune system is strong enough to fight the virus itself. With medical intervention, a dog’s survival rate is 95%. Without treatment, it’s closer to 20%. Right now, our population is in quarantine, and each individual dog is getting the care he or she needs. We also have strict safety protocols that allow us to mitigate the spread of the disease, although such spread is still possible. Our biggest immediate concerns are: The cost of caring for dogs who may need to enter 24/7 emergency care if their condition deteriorates.The fact that because much of our population is quarantined, we do not have the capacity to assess newly arriving dogs with medical issues. Such dogs must be transported to area hospitals for examinations and treatment—and the medical bills for this care are running up to $100,000 per week.This situation is urgent, which is why I’m reaching out to our community for support. Please, if you can, donate now to help with the unexpected costs of caring for these dogs during the outbreak. Every dog who comes into our shelter receives a parvo vaccine, but it takes time for the antibodies to become strong enough to fight the virus. We have separated the dogs into groups based on their exposure and have separate staff treating each group. We have tested all symptomatic animals in the shelter for the virus. In addition, we’ve tested our entire population for parvovirus antibodies, to identify dogs who have protection. The quarantine period for symptomatic dogs will be two weeks, minimum. And as you can imagine, an outbreak of this magnitude is putting an extraordinary strain on our resources—from staff and volunteer time to PPE, vaccines, parvo tests, antibody tests, cleaning supplies, and the list goes on. Please, donate today. Your gift, no matter how big or small, will make a difference with these unexpected costs, estimated at $100,000 just this week. Disease and deadly viruses are among the risks we take when working with a vulnerable population of animals. Our shelter is exposed to parvo on a regular basis, but this outbreak is especially severe. It’s why we implement such extraordinary safety protocols. And it's also why we work so hard to vaccinate dogs in the community to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. Your gift today will help us get through this emergency and vaccinate more animals who are in need of protection. Please, donate today. I am so grateful to our community of support—our staff, medical team, volunteers, fosters, and friends like you. Together we rescue, heal, and find loving homes for vulnerable animals in need. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for all that you do. With deep appreciation,
Lisa --
Lisa LaFontaine
President and CEO
Humane Rescue Alliance P.S. I hope you take a moment to donate now and help us get through this emergency so we can continue our work in the community to vaccinate more dogs and save lives.
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