First shelter distemper case confirmed in October

The Conway man and woman, who adopted a dog later diagnosed with the deadly distemper virus following an Oct. 27 vet appointment, said they told the shelter about the diagnosis six weeks ago.

Laurel and Thomas King adopted a golden retriever named “Lady” form the Horry County animal shelter in October after another dog they shared for years passed away.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

Read the shelter and medical documents on this case, click here.

The Kings said they took Lady home and the symptoms of distemper started surfacing, then they took their dog to their vet in Conway for a check up, “When we brought her home, she was great. She was absolutely great. We brought her home on Monday and she played Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday she started getting real; I wouldn’t say sick, she was just tired.”

The Kings took Lady back to the shelter and handed a shelter employee the distemper diagnosis, “We walked in the door and explained to an employee, handed her the paperwork myself; handed it to her and she looked at the paperwork and said just a minute, we’ll make arrangements to quarantine her,” Laurel said.

In an interview with News13 Monday, shelter director Renee Macklen denied knowing anything about the King’s case or the King’s vet’s diagnosis even after seeing the vet’s diagnosis News13 obtained from the shelter’s records.

Sources made the shelter’s records available to News13 showing that the shelter adopted out 36 dogs in the past few weeks who were then returned to the shelter because of health reasons, then later euthanized.

Of the 36 dogs, three have confirmed cases of distemper.

The King’s case was the first, a Clemson University lab confirmed the second on Nov. 24 in a letter to the shelter, and a third was confirmed Monday by another Conway vet in a dog adopted form the shelter.

“For them to say that they didn’t know when it started is wrong. They knew and AI think people that have adopted dogs should know that they’re running a risk. That they might have a very sick dog at their home,” Laurel King said.

The Kings said they adopted two more dogs from the shelter, but both dogs were immunized and have yet to show any signs of the distemper virus, “But it breaks my heart for all the people out there that still don’t know what could be in store for them,” Laurel said.

The Kings said they want to know why adoptions continued at the shelter even after they provided Macklen with proof that a deadly virus was running through the facility, “How could you do that to so many people? And, I imagine there were a lot of people who had children that fell in love with those dogs. How could you? Even if somewhere in her heart she thought that she was doing the right thing by trying to find these dogs homes, I don’t see how she could overlook the fact that she knew and she knew what she was letting these families in store for.”

News13 tried to allow Macklen the opportunity to respond to the King’s claims Wednesday, but Macklen sent a shelter employee to the door to decline comment.

Sources close to the Humane Society of Horry County tell News13 the society’s board of directors plan to meet with Macklen, but the time and date of the meeting is not known yet.

The shelter remained closed Wednesday and will remain closed for an indefinite time while shelter crews continue cleaning the facility and euthanizing the remaining dogs left there.

You can count on News13 to continue to follow this story.