Tulsa Animal Welfare Deals With Cases Of Distemper Virus

The Tulsa Animal Welfare shelter is dealing with more cases of the canine Distemper virus. The shelter had to close a few months ago because of an outbreak of Distemper.

Staff at Tulsa Animal Welfare said two dogs have tested positive for the virus. They said they're not treating this as an outbreak like the one back in November.

The shelter has fewer animals with symptoms and a large population that has at least some protection through vaccination.

The two dogs that have tested positive are being isolated to help prevent the spread. Staff said 13 more dogs are showing symptoms of the virus. All of those dogs are being isolated and tested.

The shelter is still open to the public for intake and adoption.

Staff wants people to know that while they can't make any guarantees about infection, every dog adopted from the shelter is vaccinated against Distemper.

"All of our animals that are being adopted out have received at least one vaccine, they will have received a second, depending on how long they've been here because there is a time frame for receiving that second vaccine," said Dr. David Bailey.

Tulsa Animal Welfare has shortened their hours from 2 to 6 pm daily to give extra time for cleaning.