11 dogs dead, 8 more under Animal Welfare care following canine parvovirus outbreak in Windsor

Ontario's Animal Welfare Service is investigating a deadly outbreak of canine parvovirus after several dogs became ill earlier this month.

Anne Rene, a resident at the Glengarry Avenue apartment buildings said her 11-month-old dog "Zeus" is among those affected by the highly contagious disease.

"We cannot walk any of our dogs in the grass. We were not informed. Nobody has informed us of the parvo outbreak. We found out because my dog got sick."

Rene said she doesn't know where her dog is after it was seized by Animal Welfare officials from her apartment at 445 Glengarry Avenue on Monday.

She said she refused to sign consent forms to euthanize the dog, and is now worried about a mounting financial bill as Zeus recovers at an undisclosed location.

"I called every vet in Windsor, every vet office in Windsor. I called, everybody refused to see my dog because I have no money. I had somebody loaning me $100 to go to a vet to give to a vet to pay something, and they refused it because it wasn't the full amount. The test itself cost almost $300."

In a statement to CTV News the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation said, "We are fully cooperating with bylaw guidelines, and animal control has been notified. However, this situation falls outside the scope of what the Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation is able to address directly."

Rene said she got the dog after an elderly neighbour went into hospital care, noting the dog was not vaccinated from the virus.

Mean time, the Windsor-Essex County Humane Society doesn't have any current cases of canine parvovirus at its shelter according to Executive Director Lynette Bain.

"It is a 100% preventable through the use of vaccines and that's the sad part about this is, we can protect our dog population by having them vaccinated," said Bain.

"If you have had your dog vaccinated, you can rest easy in that because the parvo vaccines are extremely effective," Bain added.

The Chief Animal Welfare Inspector and Director of Animal Welfare Services for Ontario, Melanie Milczynski confirmed to CTV News that an outbreak was being investigated due to the number of cases in a short period of time in a certain geographic area of Windsor, noting parvo usually sees low numbers of cases when vaccination protocols are followed.

Milczynski said between Dec. 4-10, Animal Welfare officials received eight calls to the Ontario Animal Protection call centre for animal welfare issues related at the Glengarry housing complex.

"As a result of one of the first calls that we attended, there were eight puppies that the disease had progressed significantly and were impacted. And as a result, they were humanely euthanized with the consent of the owner. And we've also been made aware of dogs that were deceased prior to our arrival to respond to the call that we received and I believe the latest number was three."

Milczynski said the Hamilton/Burlington Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) would be in Windsor on Saturday to assist the Windsor-Essex Community Housing Corporation and Windsor-Essex County Humane Society with a free mobile vaccination clinic in the Glengarry area in an effort to mitigate the virus' spread throughout the community housing complex.

"Make sure that your dogs are up to date on their vaccinations," Milczynski said. "This is an outbreak of canine parvovirus and our priority is to make sure that the animals get the care that they need, that there's an awareness among dog owners in the complex of the risk."

Milczynski explained there doesn't appear to be any cases of neglect or conscious disregard for the health of animals. She said Animal Welfare officials are working with partners to build awareness of pet health and well-being to try and be as proactive and preventative as possible to manage more potential spread of the virus.

"If you have any questions, contact your local vet. But then just best practices as far as cleaning up after your pet when you take them out. Not visiting dog parks to minimize that dog to dog contact if your pet is not vaccinated, and just really being diligent about the areas that your pet is being active in, and trying to maintain as much standard of good dog stewardship as possible."

"Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious disease among unvaccinated dogs and it can't be contracted by humans," Milczynski said. "But it can be spread quite easily just by bringing it from one place to another, most common dog to dog contact." Milczynski said symptoms of canine parvo virus include lethargy, dehydration, vomiting and diarrhea. "And that's why that treatment is so critical to catch it at its early stages, to have a higher success rate for the animals."

She continued, "Young animals and unvaccinated animals are at greatest risk for contracting this disease and the parvovirus vaccine is one of the core vaccines that is administrative by vet. So we strongly encourage people to be up to date with their pet's vaccinations, because it does take approximately 3 to 5 days for the vaccine to become fully effective for a pet."