The president of the Horry County Humane Society issued the third press release within a week on the deadly Canine Distemper Virus situation that has closed the county’s animal shelter for more than a week.
The shelter closed down Monday after reports of diagnosed and confirmed cases of the distemper virus leaked out of the facility.
Kate Philips, the president of the HCHS board of directors, said the shelter closed Nov. 3, 4, and 5 after a vet diagnosed a shelter dog with “probable K-9 distemper,” but the tests results came back negative, according to Philips.
Shelter director Renee Macklen ordered all remaining dogs in the shelter to be vaccinated and the shelter cleaned during the November shut down, according to Philips.
Sources tell News13, shelter director Renee Macklen sent another dog off, a shelter dog named “Belle”, to the Clemson University Veterinary Diagnostic Center in Columbia, and not the one diagnosed with distemper.
The Nov. 3 case was a dog named “Lady” who was adopted by a Conway couple, then later returned to the shelter and euthanized with distemper symptoms, according to sources within the Humane Society.
Macklen ordered Belle sent to Columbia to be tested, whose test results came back negative for distemper, according to sources.
The shelter sent another diagnosed dog to Columbia for testing on Nov. 6 after it was returned to the shelter on Nov. 5 after being adopted, and was isolated from the rest of the cleaned shelter, according to the release.
However, in a News13 with Macklen on Dec. 9, Macklen said the shelter had “no way” of isolating or quarantining animals within the facility.
The shelter was notified by Clemson of the confirmed case of distemper on Nov. 24, but did not shut down until 12 days later on Dec. 8.
“The source of the virus is still unknown, and is unlikely to be determined. The shelter had no choice but to euthanize 85 dogs last week because although they were vaccinated, there is the possibility that they were exposed to the virus before vaccination,” according to Philips release.
The shelter remains closed indefinitely while shelter officials await releases on “legal hold” dogs being held in the facility under court order.
There is no timeline for reopening the facility until the “legal hold” animals are released, euthanized, and that part of the shelter sterilized, according to shelter officials.
You can count on News13 to continue updating this story as details become available.
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