After Distemper Outbreak, LMAS Opening Temporary Shelter

Louisville Metro Animal Services Director Justin Scally is calling on the community to help with the latest outbreak of distemper in dogs at its facilities.The department will open up a temporary shelter tomorrow to deal with the latest outbreak. The disease is highly contagious and causes respiratory ailments, depression and loss of appetite. There have been 10 reported cases of distemper in dogs since June. Scally says the agency is currently running three different facilities, but they are being mindful of the cost to the taxpayers while trying to make the animals healthy.“Obviously this is a situation where we need to address the disease issue. If we want to look at our Manslick Road facility and Louisville Metro Animal Services as a whole, we want to make sure that these animals are healthy. You’re never going to have a 100 percent where there’s no animal sick because you’re bringing in animals from the community, but we do have an obligation to make sure that we’re doing the best we can to protect them while they’re in our custody,” he said. The temporary facility is a vacant public works garage next to the Animal House adoption center off Newburg Road. The agency is also offering two free vaccination clinics to encourage responsible pet ownership and help prevent the spread of disease in the community. The first free clinic is scheduled for October 1 at 9:00am at the Newburg Community Center.