A Texas dog rescue caused a distemper outbreak in the Northwest after sending 2 transports of dogs that had been exposed to the deadly virus.
Darby and Gracy’s Dog Rescue in Sherwood, OR had to euthanize 17 dogs and puppies last month sent from the SPCA of Brazoria County outside Houston, TX after 2 of the dogs sent on a July transport tested positive for distemper.
An Oregon women had to euthanize one of the dogs from SPCA of Brazoria County she adopted from Darby and Gracy’s after it developed distemper. She also had to put down her rescue dog after it contracted distemper from the new dog she adopted.
A dog from SPCA of Brazoria County adopted by another Oregon woman died from distemper on August 22. A dog adopted by a Seattle women developed distemper but fortunately it survived.
And a dog rescue in the Midwest had to euthanize 1 dog it got from SPCA of Brazoria County in July as well as 1 puppy already at the shelter it infected.
In total, 23 dogs sent to rescues in July from SPCA of Brazoria County either died from distemper or were so sick they had to be euthanized.
Canine Distemper: Highly Contagious, No Cure
Canine distemper is “a…..serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems of puppies and dogs.”
It spreads through airborne exposure, direct contact with an infected animal, or indirect contact (exposure to bowls, blankets, etc. used by an infected animal).
Canine distemper has an incubation period of 1-2 weeks but it can be as long as 4-5 weeks before an infected dog shows symptoms of the disease.
A dog can carry the virus for weeks without showing any symptoms and still infect other dogs.
Puppies are particularly susceptible because their immune systems aren’t fully developed.
Symptoms of distemper include:
- fever
- watery discharge from the nose and eyes
- coughing
- lethargy
- diarrhea
- lack of appetite
The virus attacks the nervous system as it progresses. This causes circling behavior, head tilting, seizures, muscle twitching, paralysis, and thickening of foot pads.
The virus is especially nasty because it’s extremely contagious, often fatal, and does not have a cure.
Once a dog is either exposed to or has distemper, it must be isolated to prevent the virus from spreading.
After recovering from distemper a dog can still shed the virus for up to 120 days.
The American Veterinary Medical Association says treatment usually consists of “supportive care and efforts to prevent secondary infections; control vomiting, diarrhea and neurologic symptoms; and combat dehydration through administration of fluids.”
Distemper Vaccine Doesn’t Immediately Provide Puppies Full Immunization
An important concept to remember is that vaccination and immunization aren’t the same thing. That’s why giving a puppy a distemper vaccination doesn’t automatically give it full protection from the virus.
Puppies don’t have immunity from distemper and other viruses when they are born. Maternal antibodies provide the immunity puppies need, but their effectiveness gradually declines until puppies are approximately 12 weeks old.
Because the amount of maternal antibodies a puppy receives is variable, no one can predict when they no longer protect a puppy from viruses. Because of this, most vets give puppies their first distemper vaccination when they are 6-8 weeks old.
Vaccines given before that are less likely to be effective because “the maternally derived antibodies can block the pup’s ability to respond to vaccination.”
Puppies aren’t fully protected from distemper until about a week after their final vaccination when they are 16-18 weeks old. After that, “most pups have enough vaccine protection against the common vaccinatable conditions of dogs to ……. go to the dog park, doggie daycare, and other places where large groups of unknown dogs frequent and congregate.”
Veterinarians advise people to keep vaccinated puppies away from dogs with unknown vaccination histories until a week after their final vaccine.
SPCA of Brazoria County Not Fully Transparent About Distemper Outbreak
Distemper can overrun a shelter/rescue regardless of its protocols. Even those that take all possible precautions to prevent distemper can have outbreaks.
What shelters can control is how they respond to a distemper outbreak. One of the most important things they can do is to be completely transparent with the public.
As soon a shelter knows it has a dog with or exposed to distemper, it should immediately alert every adopter and rescue that took dogs from its facility that could have been exposed to the virus.
At the same time it should also make an announcement alerting the public about distemper at its facility and the steps it will take to address it.
SPCA of Brazoria County did make a public announcement on September 9 on its Facebook page about the distemper outbreak at its facility:
But SPCA of Brazoria County wasn’t fully transparent about its distemper outbreak.
The shelter knew on August 5 that a dog on the July 18 transport had distemper, but staff waited 4 more days before making the announcement on the rescue’s Facebook page. This is the text they sent that day to the Oregon woman whose puppy eventually died of distemper in late August.
Some Rescues Not Notified About Distemper Outbreak
In its August 9 announcement on Facebook, SPCA of Brazoria County said it would contact “persons associated with the animals at the shelter for the past few weeks to ensure that individuals would be on the lookout for the next few weeks for signs of the illness and take appropriate actions.”
However, over 2 months later, I know of at least 3 rescues that took dogs from SPCA of Brazoria County in July that still haven’t been notified about its distemper outbreak.
The 2 transports that took the dogs to D&G Dog Rescue also had dozens of other dogs that went to other rescues. So did the transport that delivered the dog with distemper to the shelter in the midwest.
We don’t know if SPCA of Brazoria County notified any of these unknown rescues that their dogs had been exposed to distemper.
Proper Health Protocols Not Followed
Based on information I’ve collected, I don’t believe SPCA of Brazoria County took the proper precautions to protect the health of dogs on the transports to Oregon while distemper ran rampant in several Texas animal shelters.
Dogs from Texas on First Transport That Arrived in Vancouver, WA on July 18
Wishbone (now Pepe) – 4.5 month old Terrier mix
Chevy – 4 month old Bloodhound
Reba – 4 month old Schnauzer/Doodle mix
7 Catahoula Puppies (almost 8 weeks old)
Dogs from Texas on Second Transport That Arrived in Sherwood, OR on July 30
Biloxi – 1 year old Pittie with 11 puppies (3 weeks old)
Dolly – 1.5 year old Shepherd mix with 3 puppies (8 weeks old)
Pepe – 3 year old Beagle/Lab mix (vet said he was a senior)
Veteran – 2 year old Terrier mix
Winston – 4 month old Malinois
Transports Had Multiple Dogs from Different Shelters
SPCA of Brazoria County assured Shannon Rowe from D&G Dog Rescue that only dogs from its facility would be on the July transports. But Shannon later learned that the transports actually included several of dogs from other rescues. D&G had no idea where those dogs came from or if they were healthy.
The transport with dogs sent to the midwest rescue also had dogs from multiple shelters.
Given that several Texas shelters have had distemper outbreaks this year, shipping dogs from different shelters on the same transport increased the chance of their exposure to distemper, other communicable viruses, and parasites.
Almost All the Puppies Didn’t Have Full Immunity from Distemper
As I noted earlier, puppies aren’t fully protected from distemper until about a week after their fourth and final vaccination when they’re 16-18 weeks old.
Until then, puppies shouldn’t be around dogs with unknown vaccination histories.
Both transports for D&G had puppies with dogs from shelters other than SPCA of Brazoria County. Both transports also had puppies that weren’t fully vaccinated for distemper.
- Reba, a 4 month old puppy, had 1 vaccination 11 days before the transport left Texas and 1 the day it left
- Chevy, a 4 month old puppy, had 1 vaccination 11 days before the transport left Texas
- Wishbone, a 4.5 month old puppy had 1 vaccination 9 days before the transport left Texas
- All 11 of Biloxi’s 3 week old puppies were too young to be vaccinated
- All 3 of Dolly’s 8 week old puppies had 1 vaccination 15 days before the transport left Texas and 1 the day it left
- The 8 week old Catahoula puppies had 1 distemper vaccination 14 days before the transport left for Texas
The only puppy on either transport that had its full set of distemper vaccinations was 4 month old Winston. He never developed distemper and is doing well with his new family.
Dogs and Puppies Had Health Problems Upon Arrival
Virtually all the dogs and puppies from SPCA of Brazoria County had health problems when the transports arrived. Sick dogs are more susceptible to viruses like distemper and should not be on transports.
Dogs on July 18 Transport
- Chevy was coughing and had both a runny nose and diarrhea.
- Wishbone and Chevy had severe cases of coccidia.
- Wishbone was lethargic, coughing, and sneezing.
- All the Catahoula puppies had giardia and coccidia.
Dogs on July 30 Transport
Shannon from D&G Dog Rescue said virtually all the dogs on this transport looked sick when they arrived.
- Dolly had a cough
- 2 of Dolly’s puppies had white gums, crusty eyes, and were lethargic.
- 2 of Dolly’s puppies were diagnosed with“massive” heart murmurs.
- 1 of Dolly’s puppies had to have 2 emergency fluid injections.
- Biloxi was extremely thin.
- Some of Biloxi’s puppies had coughing, and several of the puppies had crusty eyes.
- D&G’s vet said Biloxi and all her puppies “had every possible parasite” and “the highest levels of coccidia he had ever seen.”
- Pepe had a cough, a clear runny nose, and 6 rotten teeth. The vet said he was about 8 years old, not 3 as SPCA of Brazoria County claimed.
- Veteran was “skin and bones” and would not eat.
All of these dogs and puppies didn’t magically develop their health problems while on the transport for just 2 days. At least some of them must have been visibly sick when SPCA of Brazoria County put them on the transports.
Reputable rescues ensure their dogs and puppies are healthy before they can be adopted. They don’t put dogs with worms and other health problems on transports and force adopters or rescues that take the dogs to pay their medical bills.
Furthermore, I don’t understand how a veterinarian could sign health certificates saying these dogs were in good health. This certificate is for Reba. The vet examined her the day before she left on the transport.
The vet signed the document saying that Reba was “free from infectious, contagious, and/or communicable disease.” Yet Reba’s medical history from SPCA of Brazoria County shows her positive fecal float on the same day the vet signed the health certificate.
Fecal floats are tests used to identify worms and parasites. A vet diagnosed Reba with hookworm soon after she arrived in Washington.
How could the vet SPCA of Brazoria County used say Reba had no infectious, contagious, and/or communicable diseases when she had a positive fecal float?
SPCA of Brazoria County Didn’t Follow Its Own Vaccine Protocols
In the section of the August 5 memo to Reba’s owner admitting a puppy on her transport tested positive for distemper, SPCA of Brazoria County stated its vaccination policy:
This is a reasonable vaccination policy. Vaccines every 2 weeks. A total of 4 rounds in puppies and adults. Boost vaccines 2 weeks later. All puppies on transports have age appropriate vaccinations.
Unfortunately, SPCA of Brazoria County didn’t appear to follow its own vaccination policy with many dogs on the July transports to D&G.
Puppies should have all their distemper vaccines by the time they are 16-18 months old. But of the 4 puppies in that age range on the first transport, only Winston was fully vaccinated.
Chevy and Wishbone only had 1 vaccination several days before they left Texas.
Reba only had 2 vaccinations. They gave her the second one the day they put her on the transport, so it wouldn’t provide her with full protection for another week.
The 8 week old Catahoula puppies had 1 vaccination 2 weeks before they left Texas. Fortunately they never developed distemper.
Biloxi’s puppies were too young to be vaccinated. Dolly’s puppies had 1 vaccination 15 days before they left Texas and 1 the day they left.
SPCA of Brazoria County noted in its September 9 Facebook announcement about the distemper outbreak that vaccinations don’t provide, “immediate or guaranteed immunity.” Yet it vaccinated Reba’s and and Biloxi’s puppies the day they left Texas even though the vaccinations wouldn’t provide full immunity during the 2 day trip.
Most Dogs from July Transports Did Not Survive
Almost all the dogs and puppies from Texas sent to Oregon and Washington in July either died or were euthanized. Dogs with blue names survived. Dogs with red names did not.
Reba – 4 month old Schnauzer/Doodle mix
Reba began showing distemper symptoms about a week after she was adopted. Because distemper symptoms are similar to those of other ailments, her vet didn’t treat her for distemper until August 5 when SPCA of Brazoria County sent her owner the email saying a puppy on Reba’s transport had distemper. Although the vet began treating Reba’s symptoms immediately, her condition continued to worsen, and she died on August 24.
Chevy – 4 month old Bloodhound mix
Chevy began showing distemper symptoms after she was adopted in late July. She also infected her adopter’s other dog. The adopter euthanized the dog Chevy infected on August 6 because she couldn’t stand or breathe well.
She put down Chevy the next day because she was suffering badly; she shook constantly and couldn’t eat or stand.
Wishbone (Now Pepe) – 4.5 month old Terrier mix
Pepe was lethargic, coughing, and sneezing when he arrived. The Seattle woman who adopted him took him to the vet as his health continued to decline. He eventually tested positive for distemper. Fortunately his treatment eventually alleviated his symptoms and he’s doing much better.
He still has some heatlh problems though. His owner told me, “The worst is his skin, with incessant itching, scratching, and bleeding as a result from the distemper.”
She also said he started “shrieking and yelping in pain” whenever she picked him up.
The radiologist told her he had a malformation on the back of his skull that pinches the nerves on the back of his neck, which caused the pain. She said this defect “was not documented anywhere on the “clean bill of health” from Brazoria County. The vet said “he was born with this and it would be a lifelong impairment.”
7 Catahoula Puppies – 8 weeks old
The puppies looked in good shape when their transport arrived and all were adopted. None of them have developed distemper so far. They all have had their 3rd vaccines and their adopters are still on watch for distemper symptoms.
Winston – 4 month old Malinois
As I said before, Winston was the only puppy from SPCA of Brazoria County on the July transports that was fully vaccinated. He never developed any health problems.
Biloxi – 1 year old Pittie with 11 puppies (3 weeks old)
Dolly – 1.5 year old Shepherd mix with 3 puppies (8 weeks old)
Pepe – 3 year old Beagle/Lab mix
Veteran – 2 year old Terrier mix
All of these dogs/puppies from the second transport were in horrible shape when they arrived in Oregon on June 30. Some of the puppies has white gums and crusty eyes. Some were coughing, lethargic, and full of parasites. 2 had “massive” heart murmurs.
The adult dogs had clear, runny noses and coughs. Some were extremely skinny.
D&G took them to the vet right away but he didn’t suspect they had distemper until August 5. That’s when Reba’s adopter told Shannon about SPCA of Brazoria County’s email saying a puppy on the transport tested positive for distemper.
None of these dogs were tested for distemper, but they had the classic symptoms and none of the treatments they received helped. Instead, their condition worsened daily. And remember they were all in terrible physical condition when they arrived in Oregon on July 30.
If D&G had them tested for distemper the dogs/puppies would have suffered for another week while the rescue waited for the results. And if they tested positive they still would have had little chance of survival.
D&G euthanized Veteran on August 6 because he had an upper respiratory infection, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t stand, couldn’t stop shaking, and had a crusty nose.
On August 10, Shannon made the heartbreaking decision to euthanize Pepe, Dolly, Biloxi, and all the puppies because their health continued to deteriorate and they were suffering terribly.
Before deciding to euthanize them, she consulted with the veterinarian for the rescue. She then talked with the vet for her personal dogs who also consulted with the veterinarian for the state of Oregon.
All three veterinarians said that to protect the health and safety of the community it would be best to euthanize them.
Rescue’s Actions Turns People Against Adoption
SPCA of Brazoria County questionable vaccination procedures for the dogs on the 2 transports have ramifications beyond the deaths of almost 2 dozen dogs and puppies. Reba’s and Pepe’s adopters suffered both financially and psychologically.
Reba’s adopter spent over $6000 on her multiple vet bills. Now she has a huge debt on her credit card that will take years to pay off. SPCA of Brazoria County did refund the $500 adoption fee she paid but refused to pay any of Reba’s vet bills.
Wishbone’s adopter owes her vet over $1000 for treating his distemper. D&G refunded the adoption fee and paid for over $1000 of her medical bills
Both adopters told me that said their horrendous experiences with SPCA of Brazoria County will make them less likely to adopt a rescue dog in the future.
Reba’s adopter said, “it has made me very hesitant but I’m passionate about rescuing. I can’t say I’d jump into a transported dog again which is unfortunate because they need it the most. I’m passionate about rescue and additionally I couldn’t afford $2k on a breeder puppy. Isn’t that ironic?! I avoided it completely because I thought that was the riskier thing to do.
Every friend I know is now using my situation as a cautionary tale stating this is why they’ll only go to reputable breeders. I will still probably rescue but I’ve learned you really really have to do your research and ask a lot of questions. For now I’m just going to foster. Try to make something good from this mess.”
Pepe’s adopter told me, “This disease and the negligence of the shelter in Brazoria county has led to so much pain and sadness within our family. I have lost 10lbs from not eating due to stress and have been losing hair. We are also in credit card debt from taking him to the ER visit.
I can’t sleep at night because he still coughs and is restless from the itching. It has been very very hard. We worked so hard to build a home for a pup, and the negligence of Brazoria County SPCA had ruined that for us. We are optimistic for recovery, but aren’t sure we could ever do this again.”
Distemper Fiasco Forces Cut Backs for D&G Dog Rescue
Shannon from D&G Dog Rescue told me they ran up about $7000 in medical bills treating the sick dogs.
D&G will no longer rescue dogs outside the Northwest. She told me that, “The rescues from Texas are getting desperate and cutting corners and that is just going to bring diseases into the PNW.”
To its credit SPCA of Brazoria County did pay for the euthanizations. I believe it should also pay the vet bills for the dogs from the July transports.
The rescue admitted the dogs on the first transport tested positive for distemper, and it sent visibly unhealthy dogs on the second transport.
SPCA of Brazoria County had $1.8 million dollars in total assets at the end of 2020 according to the Form 990 it sent to the IRS. Paying the vet bills would have a minuscule financial impact on it.
SPCA of Brazoria County Facilitated Spread of Distemper
Distemper is an insidious virus; even the most meticulous, well-run dog rescues can have distemper outbreaks.
I don’t know what procedures SPCA of Brazoria County took to prevent a distemper outbreak at its facility; however, I believe it facilitated spread of distemper from its facility in Texas to the Northwest and Midwest by
- Waiting 4 days after learning a dog on the transport tested positive for distemper to alert the public about “a positive distemper results associated with the shelter population”
- Not telling every rescue/adopter that took dogs in July about the distemper outbreak at its facility
- Not properly vaccinating puppies it put on the July transports and sending them with dogs from other facilities
- Putting visibly sick dogs and dogs full of parasites on the July transports
I sent several questions to Brazoria County SPCA to get their side of the story but they said they couldn’t respond due to “potential ongoing legal proceedings.”
I despise our nation’s idiocy about dogs!
We treat them like stuffed animals not getting them vaccinated, or neutering them, feeding them toxins like a can of beer, grapes or fatty human foods—extremely painful pancreatitis!
Worst we don’t train them the basic 7 commands, don’t walk them 3-4 miles a day.
In Hawaii we don’t have rabies. We have required dog licenses that cost $250 for intact dogs and $15 for neutered. We have one small shelter for “rescue dogs.” Because by law we can’t mistreat them.
In the US we have no way of determining “reputable” breeders. They’re inbreeding dogs to create new colors (White Golden Retrievers?) or designer dogs. Cancer and other major deadly congenital defects are found with inbreeding. These “AKC” breeders are only interested in making large amounts of money…not breeding healthy pups. AKC had zero interest in controlling bad, incompetent breeders. They just like the money.
Most Americans are just uneducated about raising or breeding. The fact that we have so many “rescues” is an abomination!
There was a parvo outbreak at a GA shelter and told NO ONE!
I would NEVER trust a dog bred in US…ever! Get laws passed to demand testing and refunds of vet bills from unconscionable breeders and shelters! Then train your puppies the 7 basic commands YOURSELF! Vaccinate, well puppy vet visits!
If you can’t afford the time, money, and energy DO NOT GET A DOG! I love them and have trained them for police, military, search and rescue and personal service. I don’t charge a dime. But I will NOT train your personal pet! That’s on you!
AKC is a registry. Whether or not a breeder is responsible goes way past just AKC registry.
People don’t do their research, want puppies immediately and are often ill prepared to deal with dogs with problems.
All of my dogs have been AKC registered purebreds. They have all come from reputable breeders who made little or no money on the breeding.
Texas doesn’t care about people, much less pets, and the rescue transports dumping sick dogs all over the country need to stop. They killed other people’s pets and caused huge financial hardship for families.
Let’s stop acting like rescues are automatically better than other sources for puppies.
It’s not an either or choice. There are responsible breeders and bad breeders, just as there are responsible rescues and bad rescues.
First off, this is the responsibility of the Rescues and Transport Company(not confirming sufficient quarantine and vaccines) taking in these dogs and not placing them in quarantine in TX, for 4 weeks minimum and 2 DHPP Vaccines and 7 days after the 2nd one. Anyone that has ever taken dogs into Rescue knows this about Texas Dogs.
We manage a Parvo/Distemper Group on FB. Take a look. These dogs Adopters were brought to our attention.
Who was the transporter? Our rescue sends to WA, so I definitely want this information.
SPCA of BC did the transport do. I don’t know if they are licensed with the USDA.
Exactly what I was going to say!
You have to wonder about the transporter of the dogs also. 2 sets of shots are the minimum number for a responsible transporter to require. Plus a reputable transporter will not transport a dog of any age with a positive fecal. Many require them to be out of the shelter environment and in a foster home for a minimum of 14 days before transport.
What a horribly worded article written by this reporter to put blame on a puppy. Makes it sound like it was all that puppy’s fault when in actuality it was human error and irresponsibility.
I don’t think I ever blamed the puppy. Could you point out specifically where I did that?
Look up the Texas Veterinarian number, I don’t see it. Also the SPCA does not hold their puppies for 8 weeks while getting vaccines. There’s a 5 day hold there, then fixed, then adopted out.
I used to work there. THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER!! They have really hit rock bottom. SHAME ON THEM!!!
I second Joy’s comment about one of prior executive directors. She ran that place like nobody’s business! When she left, the management was a joke, clueless and still are today. They have no medical knowledge and just wing it. Look who paid the price of IGNORANCE!
Thank you for writing this article—i can see a great deal of work went into it. As a very reputable and responsible rescue here in Texas this makes me physically ill. Not only is it so sad for all the affected dogs and their adoptive families, it is a huge black eye for the rescues trying so hard to do the right thing. We have strict protocols for the safety of the dogs and while we wish we could grab a bunch of dogs up , give them a shot and send them on their way to go save more–we know this is not the responsible thing to do— I pray the Pacific Northwest will not lump all Texas rescues in to the same bucket— There are good rescues out there —adopters need to do their homework and make sure to find out how long the dog has been in the care of the rescue , what vetting has been done and when—this protocol of one shot on intake and another in two weeks on the way to transport does not work for puppies–or even adult dogs who may have never had any vaccines before coming into the shelter or rescue. Not only are the Northern adopters less informed about parvo and distemper–even the vets do not see it as much and are not as familiar with identifying and treating— Please please do whatever you can to continue to educate people— Go on the news—write in the papers—- I just beg of you to always tell adopters in your area–there are good rescues and to ask the right questions and find those good rescues to adopt your new family member from— Sadly this is not new and the more demand there is the more lax some are getting with their protocol— Transporting nursing mothers with babies a commercial transport–dear God— i see that happen here, but do not even believe my eyes.
Thank you Lee selman for this!
First with the covid adoptions skyrocketed…now the dumping has begun. Second, when are we going to stop allowing direct out of state adoptions? . I know so many have ended up back in other rescues or sent back to Texas from serious issues. Rescues should be on both ends if needing to transport to other areas..and wait times be set before adopting out. It would save so much of this. Right now with the dumping of dogs after people went back to work…shouldn’t rescues be helping out their local shelters first?
I volunteered at the SPCA in Brazoria Cnty for years and that was never a big problem. My vets wife was the director and she did a wonderful job. I question who is running it now. She has covered up some discrepancies. The SPCA board should answer to why the director they chose is covering up and not being forth right about the distemper. I’m ashamed of the way this was handled. I quit volunteering when the previous director left. I probably left at the right time but those poor babies paid the ultimate price ?
Thank you for your perspective.
I’m a Texas dog rescue networker meaning I volunteer with volunteer groups spread out throughout the United States, who specifically coordinate rescue efforts to pull dogs off of the daily Texas euthanasia lists.
Let me preface this by saying that SPCA of Brazoria County is not absolved of responsibility in what happened. With that said, this Oregon dog rescue “Darby and Gracy’s” was extremely negligent in their rescue practices and the handling of these Texas dogs. I work with hundreds of rescues across the US and none of the rescues I work with, take dogs right out of the shelter, place them into transport, and move them out-of-state, all
In the same day. That is irresponsible to do so for many reasons!
Here is what the rescues I work with do (keep in mind that they are spread out across the US):
-They tag a dog and have the dog placed into isolated boarding for at least 2 weeks to allow symptoms to show for anything not caught or not properly tested for. Isolated means they don’t have contact with “general population” or other dogs as to mitigate the spread of anything they might test positive for.
-They have Texas veterinarian partners who look over the dogs and REDO all of the testing, to ensure nothing was missed or if something didn’t show up right away
-Once the medical hold lifts, they are then looked at AGAIN by a vet and given a health certificate and are cleared to travel
-then the dogs are transported through pre-approved and fully vetted transport companies that aren’t taking other dogs directly from shelters
-the rescues make sure that the adoptive families are fully aware of viruses that are prone to Texas (heartworm, parvo, distemper), and ensure if the family has other pets, they are fully vaccinated prior to meeting the newly adopted dog (this is critically important!)
-if symptoms are presented on transport, the dogs DO NOT go home with the fosters or pre-approved adopters. They immediately go to the emergency animal hospital where they are again, placed into isolated boarding! The vet is provided with all paperwork and origin of where the dog came from and most rescues will let their vet know that the dog is coming from a high distemper environment. Distemper testing isn’t always a vet’s go to, especially in the PNW so it’s on the receiving rescue to request one.
I don’t know Darby and Gracy’s but it sounds like they followed NONE of these guidelines and safe practices. Many of the groups I am in are upset to hear how they mismanaged their situation on their behalf.
They admitted that they visibly saw sick dogs at the time they picked up their dogs. And the dogs went home? They were exposed to other dogs? Are you kidding me? That is so negligent! They should have immediately been taken to the animal emergency room and a distemper test should have been requested along with parvo, giardia, and all common Texas viruses. Not the next day. Not a week later. THE SAME DAY!
I’m disheartened to see this piece written from their vantage point because they don’t sound very experienced working with Texas dogs and don’t have safe practices in place to do so. And now, they are fear mongering by telling others to not pull dogs from Texas shelters. That’s like showing up to a manufacturing plant without safety gear, getting hurt, and telling others not to do the job because it’s “too risky.”
Distemper is VERY treatable and I’d be highly suspicious of any vet in the NW saying they need to put dogs down to “protect the health and safety of the general public” when that wouldn’t be a question of issue if they were in isolated medical boarding during treatment. We have never heard of a rescue needing to terminate 17 dogs and puppies because of distemper. Many, many, many dogs get distemper in the south and they survive with treatment! Those poor dogs had a better chance of survival if they had just stayed in Texas and it hurts me to say that because Texas has a LOT of problems.
Yes, be upset at SPCA for their role in all of this but also keep in mind that Darby and Gracies did NOT follow proper protocols and their own negligence played a role in this as well.
And for anyone saying they are going to go to a breeder because this doesn’t happen with breeders …that is NOT true. Breeders won’t report it so that’s why you won’t hear about it but they terminate “oopsie” or less than perfect litters all the time or they dump them off at the shelter and make them someone else’s problem.
Please do a service to the greater animal rescue world and interview a reputable dog rescue who is experienced with working with Texas dogs and ask them what they would have done differently so at the very least, and in memory of the dogs who died, a learning opportunity can come from all of this!
Thank you for your detailed analysis. It certainly brought many things to my attention that I hadn’t heard of before. Here are my off the cuff reactions to your comments:
I’m not an expert on what rescues should or shouldn’t do when taking dogs from other states but in my opinion, it’s the responsibility of the rescue that is sending the dogs that the dogs they send are healthy. I don’t know of any rescues in WA that quarantine out of state dogs for 2 weeks and have them examined by independent vets twice before putting them on a transport. I’m not saying the procedures you described are wrong. I understand how following them would do a better job of ensuring the dogs are healthy, but most rescues don’t have the resources to board dogs for 2 weeks in a far away location and pay for them to be examined by vets twice. I imagine your response would be that if they dan’t afford to do it then they shouldn’t be rescuing dogs from areas with high incidences of viruses and parasites like TX. But there are rescues here that take dogs from reputable shelters in TX that ensure dogs are healthy before they put them on a transport, and I haven’t heard of any major problems they’ve had.
Can you explain to me how rescues can afford to spend potentially hundreds of dollars (or more) to board several dogs for 2 weeks and pay for 2 weeks. I’m not trying to be cynical – I’d really like to know because very few rescues here that I know could afford to do that.
And I know you didn’t bring this up but how could the vet who examine these dogs sign a health certificate when she knew these dogs had health problems. In one case I know she signed a health certificate for a dog that had a positive fecal float test for hookworm. There is no way all the dogs developed distemper or parasites on the 2 day ride from TX. Who holds these vets responsible for saying sick dogs are healthy enough for transport?
Also, some of your points about D&G rescue aren’t correct. All the dogs that D&G gets go to a vet for an exam and a fecal float tests. They don’t automatically send them out to adopters. The dogs then go to foster homes for a couple of weeks before they can be adopted. One of the dogs that developed distemper was actually in a foster home. The woman in Oregon who adopted the dog that eventually died from distemper adopted it directly from SPCA BC and took it right off the transport. It was not a D&G dog. None of the dogs from the first transport looked sick. The dogs that developed distemper didn’t show symptoms for a week or two.
None of the dogs on the second transport went to adopters either. They were examined by a vet and went straight to foster. However because the dogs looked in rough shape and the rescue suspected they were sick they weren’t sent to individual foster homes as the rescue didn’t want to spread anything to m multiple foster homes. One person kept the dogs.
I don’t know if the issue of isolated medical boarding was discussed, but again, very few rescues could afford to medically board and treat a couple of dozen dogs for weeks or months. The dogs’ treatment had already cost $7000. And the head veterinarian for the state was one of the vets that recommended euthanization.
You said at the beginning of your comments that, “Let me preface this by saying that SPCA of Brazoria County is not absolved of responsibility in what happened,” and then everything you wrote afterwards did just that. You even said that the dogs would have been better off if they had stayed in TX. I completely agree! SPCA should have never put these dogs on a transport. They should use use its $1.8 million in assets to keep dogs isolation and ensure they are completely healthy before putting them on the transport. You also didn’t address the fact that SPCA BC NEVER contacted some, and maybe all of the rescues that took dogs from those transports and told them a dog on one of their transports tested positive for distemper, and they waited 4 days to post an announcement on FB that they had to shut down adoptions due to distemper. That is the height of irresponsibility.
While D&G could have done some things differently, I believe the vast majority of the blame for this tragic incident should be on SPCA BC.
And although I agree with you regarding your point about breeders, these people just want a healthy puppy. Most don’t realize some of the things that happen behind the scenes with dogs that aren’t “perfect” although I will say reputable breeders will find homes for dogs that don’t meet their breed standard if it doesn’t have some debilitating defect.
Thank you again for your comments. If any of the rescues you know of that do quarantine dogs in TX for 2 weeks and arrange 2 vet exams before they are put on a transport I’d love to take to them to learn more about their procedures.
Thank you for keeping an open mind and creating some much needed dialogue. I’ll ask a handful of the rescues we work with if they have time to reach out and talk with you on their rescue practices and you can ask them anything you’d like and have some much needed dialogue from a rescue outside of the one that was interviewed for this piece. Do you have an email or phone # they can do so by?
Let me work through your questions/comments:
If your local Seattle rescues or these Oregon ones you referred to are not already implementing these practices, than if anything that can come out of this, it’s a learning opportunity for all.
Real quick, “rescue” and “shelter” shouldn’t be interchanged in writing. Shelters generally have government funding and paid positions as where “rescues” are privately operated. SPCA of Brazorio County is a shelter, not a rescue.
“I’m not an expert on what rescues should or shouldn’t do when taking dogs from other states but in my opinion, it’s the responsibility of the rescue that is sending the dogs that the dogs they send are healthy. I don’t know of any rescues in WA that quarantine out of state dogs for 2 weeks and have them examined by independent vets twice before putting them on a transport. I’m not saying the procedures you described are wrong. I understand how following them would do a better job of ensuring the dogs are healthy, but most rescues don’t have the resources to board dogs for 2 weeks in a far away location and pay for them to be examined by vets twice. I imagine your response would be that if they dan’t afford to do it then they shouldn’t be rescuing dogs from areas with high incidences of viruses and parasites like TX. But there are rescues here that take dogs from reputable shelters in TX that ensure dogs are healthy before they put them on a transport, and I haven’t heard of any major problems they’ve had.”
Answer: Yes they do! I’ll have a rescue fill you in on more of this but hundreds of rescues have a book filled with contacts- boarding, vets, etc. of places here in Texas. Whatever state you pull dogs from, you HAVE to have those contacts. It’s the only way to do things the right way- in a way that keeps the dogs best interest and health in mind. You need boots on the ground that aren’t part of the shelter entity. I don’t know of any rescue not doing isolated boarding as a precautionary. When you refer to the ones you personally know of, how many are you talking about? 1? 3? 5? I don’t know of any Washington rescues we work with that aren’t following the same protocols in place as the others. If a rescue does a shelter-to-state transport and they bring sickness through those dogs to others, we stop working with them. It’s negligent to do it. I can’t say it enough. Hundreds of rescues we partner with don’t do what this rescue group did because it’s just way too risky to do so.
“Can you explain to me how rescues can afford to spend potentially hundreds of dollars (or more) to board several dogs for 2 weeks and pay for 2 weeks. I’m not trying to be cynical – I’d really like to know because very few rescues here that I know could afford to do that.”
Answer: pledges. That’s what my groups do. We facilitate rescue pledges to raise money for each dog on the euthanasia list to help cover initial costs for boarding, medical, and transport. These are dogs who usually have medical or behavior expenses or dogs who are simply running out of time and will be killed for space. We do this for all major cities in Texas. For example, look up the “Neuces County, TX: Dogs in Need of Rescue.” This is just one of many, many, many networking pages for the Texas shelters! Keep in mind we are volunteers only! We do not work at the shelter nor do we reflect the shelter. We do this independently so we can save these dogs from being euthanized in large numbers since Texas is not a no-kill state. Dig into the comments (look at the old posts that already had a successful rescue tag so you can see the pledges that were added up by random people offering to help). Keep in mind, Facebook is only one source of pledges. My groups also network pledges from Instagram, LinkedIn, and even TickTock if you can believe that!
Rescues are more likely to take dogs who come with pledges as we know they need that money and without it, can’t always pull the dog and provide the proper care needed. This pledging system has been in place for a long time and has single handedly saved thousands and thousands of dogs from an inevitable fate of having a needle put into their heart.
In addition to pledging systems, I can tell you that the most successful rescues who take on single dogs with $2,000+ of required medical expenses, do so because they also have a volunteer within their group who is fundraising and doing community outreach. Most rescues just need to ask and if they have a following, their followers will be more than grateful to help assist with the financials. I’ve seen rescues without this and those ones can hit bumps in the road easily so it’s always responsible to plan ahead. Donations will always ebb and flow but most rescues, at least the ones that have kept their engine running for many, many years, can always raise the money they need for the dogs in their care, even with emergencies like distemper and parvo. We have a group who just recently took some puppies from a shelter and they all had parvo. They are receiving treatment and will be fine but the rescue is running a fundraiser to help with those expenses. Just to give you one of many examples as this is what we see and deal with day in and day out.
In my own opinion, you do not go into rescue if you aren’t willing to offer all life-saving measures available to treat a dog who needs emergency care. Though we do understand unforeseen emergencies happen from time-to-time, many dogs in the most deplorable conditions are able to be rehabilitated. It’s expensive but if you can’t fundraise appropriately so you can carry out this mission, than why do rescue at all? You can’t pull a dog from a kill shelter, only to kill it when the going gets rough if you see what I am saying.
“And I know you didn’t bring this up but how could the vet who examine these dogs sign a health certificate when she knew these dogs had health problems. In one case I know she signed a health certificate for a dog that had a positive fecal float test for hookworm. There is no way all the dogs developed distemper or parasites on the 2 day ride from TX. Who holds these vets responsible for saying sick dogs are healthy enough for transport?”
Answer: The dogs most likely got distemper in the shelter but there is an incubation period where dogs who have it are asymptotic. So the test would show “negative” and a few weeks go by and they are all of a sudden developing symptoms. Again, it’s avoidable with medical isolation prior to transport as well as complete immunization.
Did the rescue not see the health and immunization history for each dog they tagged? That’s the first thing the rescue should request. I’d never put a dog on a transport bus without first seeing and checking if they had all of their vaccinations. If a dog isn’t fully vaccinated, they should stay in Texas until they are unless they can be transported by themselves and have no contact with other dogs until the hold period is over with.
Same with puppies. Transporting young puppies who can’t get their third and fourth set of shots until an older age means they shouldn’t be transported unless they can be transported alone (again, no contact with other dogs accept for mamma). If the shelter lied about the vaccination history, then definitely report that. But if they were honest about the vaccination history and the dog rescue made the executive decision to go ahead and transport them that early regardless, than that is also the responsibility of the dog rescue for taking that risk. You don’t knowingly transport a dog who doesn’t have full immunity without running the risk that something like this could happen.
I’ve seen this article being shared in some of the groups I’m in and the first thing the rescue volunteers ask is, “why did they transport dogs and puppies who weren’t fully vaccinated?” You said so in your article that only one puppy had a full set of shots and he was the only to survive. Anyone that transports partially vaccinated dogs is running a huge risk doing so. The takeaway here is to not transport dogs until they are fully vaccinated/immune unless you can do an isolated transport (the dogs won’t come into contact with others).
Unfortunately there are not many universal standard regulations and each state has their own rules as far as the import/export of animals. The one regulation that is taken seriously is rabies and that’s only because it is highly transmissible to humans. I think that’s why it’s so hard to say who is truly at fault here because there was no federal law broken. That’s why both parties need to own up to their own mistakes they made!
I love my state of Texas very much but our shelters need reform. They aren’t transparent, honest, and have terrible histories of doing all kinds of bad things to dogs and cats. There needs to be changes, absolutely. But you’d have to talk with an advocacy group (there are many!) who are working to change these shelter’s practices. Coordinating takes up all my time so I can’t speak to the advocacy part of things but for many years now, they have tried to pass betters regulations and laws that would change the way shelters treat the animals.
Texas politicians have been very resistant to animal welfare change. I wish that weren’t the case but it is. That is why a Texas dog has to go as far as Seattle to find a better life. I wish it weren’t so but it is the reality of what we are up against. Trust me, if the government stepped up the way they should it would make my life so much easier. My kids might see more of me as I wouldn’t have to do all this volunteering 12 hours a day. But if we all just minded our own business and didn’t try to help, dogs would die every day. I have to help them and hope that the animal advocates can do their stuff and in the end, it will all make a difference in more than one capacity.
“Also, some of your points about D&G rescue aren’t correct. All the dogs that D&G gets go to a vet for an exam and a fecal float tests. They don’t automatically send them out to adopters. The dogs then go to foster homes for a couple of weeks before they can be adopted. One of the dogs that developed distemper was actually in a foster home. The woman in Oregon who adopted the dog that eventually died from distemper adopted it directly from SPCA BC and took it right off the transport. It was not a D&G dog. None of the dogs from the first transport looked sick. The dogs that developed distemper didn’t show symptoms for a week or two.”
Answer: I sure hope they don’t and I especially hope the fosters don’t have freshly transported dogs mingling with the resident dogs, especially knowing that they aren’t fully vaccinated.
Distemper vaccines are part of ongoing pet wellness. I don’t want to sound heartless because I wouldn’t wish this event on anyone but why did the adopter’s resident dogs not have current vaccinations? I’m assuming they didn’t because if they did, their dog would have had immunity. Did I miss this part in your article? I only bring it up because this is another example of what responsible pet ownership needs to look like. If your dog catches something that was avoidable because you failed to vaccinate them, then a slice of that responsibility is also on your plate.
“None of the dogs on the second transport went to adopters either. They were examined by a vet and went straight to foster. However because the dogs looked in rough shape and the rescue suspected they were sick they weren’t sent to individual foster homes as the rescue didn’t want to spread anything to m multiple foster homes. One person kept the dogs.”
Answer: That’s good they recognized that and got them to the vet right away.
“I don’t know if the issue of isolated medical boarding was discussed, but again, very few rescues could afford to medically board and treat a couple of dozen dogs for weeks or months. The dogs’ treatment had already cost $7000. And the head veterinarian for the state was one of the vets that recommended euthanization.”
Answer: Yes but you quoted them saying that they did so for concerns of public safety? So which is it? Was it about the money or was it about the public safety? I’d be very suspicion of any vet saying this was necessary when the vets we work with treat distemper on a regular basis. Can you provide anything in writing from the director better explaining their recommendation to euthanize?
“You said at the beginning of your comments that, “Let me preface this by saying that SPCA of Brazoria County is not absolved of responsibility in what happened,” and then everything you wrote afterwards did just that. You even said that the dogs would have been better off if they had stayed in TX. I completely agree! SPCA should have never put these dogs on a transport. They should use use its $1.8 million in assets to keep dogs isolation and ensure they are completely healthy before putting them on the transport. You also didn’t address the fact that SPCA BC NEVER contacted some, and maybe all of the rescues that took dogs from those transports and told them a dog on one of their transports tested positive for distemper, and they waited 4 days to post an announcement on FB that they had to shut down adoptions due to distemper. That is the height of irresponsibility.”
Answer: I didn’t feel compelled to do so since that’s what you were hoping to achieve in your writing, is it not? I think you did a great job doing this already. I agree with you that the shelter made mistakes and I hope they get in trouble for it. I hope they change their shelter practices. I hope all shelters do! Again, reach out to the advocacy groups on this if your goal is to change the broken system. They can help you get more involved.
The delay in the public announcement should definitely be looked into more! Highly negligent on behalf of the shelter!
“While D&G could have done some things differently, I believe the vast majority of the blame for this tragic incident should be on SPCA BC.”
Yes, they should have. But the rescue has to be held accountable too. No entity is absolved of responsibility. I understand you can’t help it if the shelter lies to you or is misleading but again, it all goes back to making sure you have your own protocols in place to avoid these things from happening.
If rescues weren’t doing what I mentioned above, don’t you think we’d be hearing about more and more if this happening? It happened to a dog rescue that wasn’t following proper protocol. They should have known better being that they were working in Texas. I understand it was very hard for them to go through this and I know this might be hard for them to hear but this was avoidable. Unfortunately, there isn’t a rescue 101 course that goes over all of this but it is there responsibility to do their own homework and be well educated about Texas dog rescue before they show up in our state and try to help. I know that might sound ungrateful but they made mistakes too and the dogs paid the price.
The isolated boarding buys time for symptoms to show up, symptoms that won’t be present at the time of the initial examination. You said yourself many of the dogs didn’t present symptoms until later on. If you take a dog from a region well known for distemper, you have to do your due diligence to ensure they aren’t taking it back with them to Oregon or wherever they go. The only way to do this is full immunization and isolated boarding.
“And although I agree with you regarding your point about breeders, these people just want a healthy puppy. Most don’t realize some of the things that happen behind the scenes with dogs that aren’t “perfect” although I will say reputable breeders will find homes for dogs that don’t meet their breed standard if it doesn’t have some debilitating defect.”
All I can say to that is when you see entire families (moms and puppies) on a euthanasia list, there is just no reason to justify bringing more dogs into the world if we can’t first help the ones we already have. The stray problem is a human caused problem. Our obsession with genetic selection to craft certain dogs is what got us into this mess. We don’t need to agree fully on this but imagine walking in my shoes for 1 day. I’m working 30 dogs who are scheduled to be killed tomorrow. These are young, breed desirable dogs. Want a husky? No problem. Want a hound? No problem. Adopt one. They are out there. You don’t have to take one from Texas. You can take one from your own state. You don’t need to go very far to find available dogs to adopt. Even your local shelters in Seattle have dogs that need adoptions. To jump from “this shelter sent sick dogs” to “this is why some people might just get their dogs from breeders” is a really big jump. That’s like saying you got a bad bowl of soup at one restaurant so you’ll never go to a restaurant again. Look on pet finder if you don’t believe me. There are unwanted dogs everywhere and that’s not an issue specific to Texas.
“Thank you again for your comments. If any of the rescues you know of that do quarantine dogs in TX for 2 weeks and arrange 2 vet exams before they are put on a transport I’d love to take to them to learn more about their procedures.”
I’ll see if someone I know has time to do so. You can always reach out to the networking groups too on Facebook and see if someone can take the time to answer your questions and walk you through what it is these rescues are doing to mitigate distemper and parvo outbreaks among the dogs they take. You can send them private messages on their Facebook pages and they should get back to you but let me know if they don’t.
Thanks for such a complete response. Of course I have some thoughts:
Real quick, “rescue” and “shelter” shouldn’t be interchanged in writing. Shelters generally have government funding and paid positions as where “rescues” are privately operated. SPCA of Brazorio County is a shelter, not a rescue.
I get that, but I didn’t realize that the shelter gets government money. Does that mean the shelter is obligated to fulfill open records requests?
I don’t know of any rescue not doing isolated boarding as a precautionary. When you refer to the ones you personally know of, how many are you talking about? 1? 3? 5? I don’t know of any Washington rescues we work with that aren’t following the same protocols in place as the others. If a rescue does a shelter-to-state transport and they bring sickness through those dogs to others, we stop working with them. It’s negligent to do it. I can’t say it enough. Hundreds of rescues we partner with don’t do what this rescue group did because it’s just way too risky to do so.
I’d say dozens of WA rescues don’t follow the protocol you laid out, particularly the smaller rescues. When they pull dogs they depend on the shelter to provide the proper vaccinations and health certificates. They do not pull them from shelters and put them in boarding for 2 weeks and have a vet examine them twice. I’d like to know some of the shelters that you do work with so I could get an idea of how many do follow those protocols. My guess is most don’t, and I say this because I rarely see any rescues holding fundraisers to board and vet individual dogs they pull from shelters, and the vast majority couldn’t afford to do it without fundraising. Most of the fundraisers I see are from rescues that want to take in a dog that needs extensive medical care.
Rescues are more likely to take dogs who come with pledges as we know they need that money and without it, can’t always pull the dog and provide the proper care needed. This pledging system has been in place for a long time and has single handedly saved thousands and thousands of dogs from an inevitable fate of having a needle put into their heart.
In addition to pledging systems, I can tell you that the most successful rescues who take on single dogs with $2,000+ of required medical expenses, do so because they also have a volunteer within their group who is fundraising and doing community outreach. Most rescues just need to ask and if they have a following, their followers will be more than grateful to help assist with the financials. I’ve seen rescues without this and those ones can hit bumps in the road easily so it’s always responsible to plan ahead. Donations will always ebb and flow but most rescues, at least the ones that have kept their engine running for many, many years, can always raise the money they need for the dogs in their care, even with emergencies like distemper and parvo. We have a group who just recently took some puppies from a shelter and they all had parvo. They are receiving treatment and will be fine but the rescue is running a fundraiser to help with those expenses. Just to give you one of many examples as this is what we see and deal with day in and day out.
In my own opinion, you do not go into rescue if you aren’t willing to offer all life-saving measures available to treat a dog who needs emergency care. Though we do understand unforeseen emergencies happen from time-to-time, many dogs in the most deplorable conditions are able to be rehabilitated. It’s expensive but if you can’t fundraise appropriately so you can carry out this mission, than why do rescue at all? You can’t pull a dog from a kill shelter, only to kill it when the going gets rough if you see what I am saying.
As I said earlier, I don’t see many pledges from rescues in the NW to board and vet specific dogs. In fact, a rescue that constantly asks for pledges is often viewed with suspicion because there are scam rescues who raise money through pledges to pull a specific dog but end up keeping the money and not pulling the dog or pulling the dog and adopting it out right away without spending any of the money. And many sites that give advice to people about adopting a rescue dog tell them to steer clear of the ones that are always asking for money.
I have seen rescues here successfully raise money from their followers on Facebook, and I have seen rescues raise money for a litter of puppies that have with Parvo, but again, I hardly ever see rescues ask for pledges to board and vet dogs.
The dogs most likely got distemper in the shelter but there is an incubation period where dogs who have it are asymptotic. So the test would show “negative” and a few weeks go by and they are all of a sudden developing symptoms. Again, it’s avoidable with medical isolation prior to transport as well as complete immunization.
I’m aware that vets may not know a dog with distemper may not show symptoms for weeks, but these dogs were full of worms and some just looked unhealthy – skinny, listless, etc. How could a vet sign a health cert that says a dog is healthy when it clearly isn’t. As I said, a vet signed a health cert for one of the dogs who had a positive float test. How could that vet say the dog is healthy and ok to transport?
Did the rescue not see the health and immunization history for each dog they tagged? That’s the first thing the rescue should request. I’d never put a dog on a transport bus without first seeing and checking if they had all of their vaccinations. If a dog isn’t fully vaccinated, they should stay in Texas until they are unless they can be transported by themselves and have no contact with other dogs until the hold period is over with.
I don’t know if they did or not. I know it has that information but I don’t know if they requested it before the dogs left or after they arrived. But shouldn’t SPCA BC be held accountable for telling rescues they have dogs available for transport when in fact those dogs haven’t been fully vaccinated? You imply the rescue is fully responsible for deciding if a dog that isn’t fully vaccinated can be on the transport. Why isn’t it SPCA BC’s responsibility to only allow shelters to pull dogs/puppies that have been fully vaccinated? It makes no sense to me to say, “well the rescue shouldn’t have transported dogs that weren’t fully vaccinated” instead of “why is the SPCA BC allowing rescues to pull dogs that aren’t fully vaccinated” or “why is this shelter putting dogs not fully vaccinated on transports?”
Same with puppies. Transporting young puppies who can’t get their third and fourth set of shots until an older age means they shouldn’t be transported unless they can be transported alone (again, no contact with other dogs accept for mamma). If the shelter lied about the vaccination history, then definitely report that. But if they were honest about the vaccination history and the dog rescue made the executive decision to go ahead and transport them that early regardless, than that is also the responsibility of the dog rescue for taking that risk. You don’t knowingly transport a dog who doesn’t have full immunity without running the risk that something like this could happen.
I’ve seen this article being shared in some of the groups I’m in and the first thing the rescue volunteers ask is, “why did they transport dogs and puppies who weren’t fully vaccinated?” You said so in your article that only one puppy had a full set of shots and he was the only to survive. Anyone that transports partially vaccinated dogs is running a huge risk doing so. The takeaway here is to not transport dogs until they are fully vaccinated/immune unless you can do an isolated transport (the dogs won’t come into contact with others).
I understand why people are asking why the rescue allowed puppies that weren’t fully on a transport, but again, why is the shelter making them available to be pulled by a rescue. Why doesn’t isn’t it a policy to never put puppies that aren’t fully vaccinated on a transport?
I don’t want to sound heartless because I wouldn’t wish this event on anyone but why did the adopter’s resident dogs not have current vaccinations?
I don’t know if their dog was vaccinated or not but you know even vaccinated dogs can get distemper. I know it doesn’t happen much but it does happen.
Yes but you quoted them saying that they did so for concerns of public safety? So which is it? Was it about the money or was it about the public safety? I’d be very suspicion of any vet saying this was necessary when the vets we work with treat distemper on a regular basis. Can you provide anything in writing from the director better explaining their recommendation to euthanize?
They never mentioned money being a factor that influenced their decision so I shouldn’t have implied that. I don’t have anything in writing from the vet.
“All I can say to that is when you see entire families (moms and puppies) on a euthanasia list, there is just no reason to justify bringing more dogs into the world if we can’t first help the ones we already have. The stray problem is a human caused problem. Our obsession with genetic selection to craft certain dogs is what got us into this mess. We don’t need to agree fully on this but imagine walking in my shoes for 1 day. I’m working 30 dogs who are scheduled to be killed tomorrow. These are young, breed desirable dogs. Want a husky? No problem. Want a hound? No problem. Adopt one. They are out there. You don’t have to take one from Texas. You can take one from your own state. You don’t need to go very far to find available dogs to adopt. Even your local shelters in Seattle have dogs that need adoptions. To jump from “this shelter sent sick dogs” to “this is why some people might just get their dogs from breeders” is a really big jump. That’s like saying you got a bad bowl of soup at one restaurant so you’ll never go to a restaurant again. Look on pet finder if you don’t believe me. There are unwanted dogs everywhere and that’s not an issue specific to Texas.”
You’re preaching to the choir regarding breeders and adopting from shelters.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people who had bad experiences with adoption from dog rescues that they were going to get dogs from a breeder from now one. You can’t compare a bad bowl of soup to a sick rescue dog that dies in front of your kids or someone spending thousands of dollars treating a sick rescue dog. We say “adopt don’t shop” but when you spend thousands more in medical bills on a rescue dog than you would on a purebred puppy, then buying a puppy from a breeder looks much more enticing to the average person. I’m not talking about experienced dog rescuers, I mean the average person who got the message about adoption but has an experience so horrible it turns them to a breeder. That’s why breeders/breeder supporters have created Facebook pages highlighting horror stories people have had with bad rescues as a reason to buy puppies from breeders.
I do have a question about getting pledges to board and vet dogs before pulling them. Are the rescues you know doing this one dog at a time or do they do it with multiple dogs simultaneously? And do they have adopters for each dog before pulling them or do they have facilities or fosters to hold the dogs until they’re adopted?
Also, I’ve learned that the dogs were taken by 2 SPCA BC employees in a van, not an officially licensed transport company. Without going into whether or not the rescue shouldn’t have insisted the dogs had to be on a fully licensed, professional transport, is it legal for SPCA BC to do this? Don’t people who transport dog have to register with the USDA?
Yes. So so true!
AMEN!
As a dog owner who has gone through the heartbreak of losing my own beloved furry friend to this virus, I know firsthand the devastation it can bring to families and communities. My heart goes out to all the families affected by this outbreak and to the dogs who have been affected. I urge all pet owners to vaccinate their dogs against distemper and to take extra precaution when adopting or rescuing dogs from outside their area. Let’s work together to prevent the spread of this deadly disease and keep our furry friends safe and healthy.