All of the animals at the city’s West Hunting Park Avenue shelter are being evacuated this week so that the building can be disinfected after a dog died of a rare illness last month.
PSPCA officials say the death of a 3-year-old chocolate Lab last week prompted the decision to clean the building.
The dog died of a dangerous viral infection called Streptococcus zooepidemicus, or "strep zoo," according to the Inquirer. This is the same disease that killed six dogs in June at the same shelter.
The Pennsylvania SPCA expects to finalize plans this week to remove all the dogs from the shelter and place them with animal rescue agencies around the region. Then officials will spend two days being disinfected.
Officials quarantined the shelter following the death of the six dogs in June, but it wasn’t enough.
And despite the intentions of disinfecting the shelter this week, PSPCA officials PSPCA officials say the infection may never be eliminated from the building.
The evacuated dogs will be given to animal-rescue groups throughout the area and only new dogs will be taken into the shelter.
Dogs with strep zoo can have symptoms that range from a cough and runny nose to bleeding from the nose and mouth.
The city shelter has had a reputation of disease for years, one local animal rescue founder told the Inquirer.
"Everything that comes out of there is sick," said Smith, who estimates his Chester Springs shelter spent $300,000 treating PSPCA dogs and cats last year.
