Animal Services not accepting dogs after one falls ill with infection and dies

Joint Animal Services of Thurston County is not accepting dogs or allowing people to adopt dogs at its main shelter on Martin Way in Olympia after one fell ill and died last week, the executive director said Thursday.

The dog, a large breed mix, had fallen ill with an infection called hemolytic streptococcus. It developed a fever of 106 degrees and died, Executive Director Ric Torgerson said.

To prevent the infection from spreading, about 40 dogs at the shelter are in quarantine and are being monitored and tested. They also have been given antibiotics.

“We’re doing what we should be doing,” he said.

The dog that fell ill had come from another county and had been at the shelter 10 days. It wasn’t clear when the dog contracted the illness, although sometimes the stress of being in a shelter can trigger it, Torgerson said.

The shelter stopped accepting dogs last Wednesday. Torgerson said the shelter could begin accepting dogs as soon as Friday or Saturday, if test results from the remaining dogs come back negative.

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Animal Services not accepting dogs after one falls ill with infection and dies."