The Center’s Swift Response To Kennel Cough Outbreak
GRANTS, N.M. – The Grants Animal Care Center has temporarily paused non-emergency dog intakes due to an outbreak of Bordetella, commonly known as kennel cough.
This highly contagious upper respiratory illness is common in shelter and boarding environments. While kennel cough is typically comparable to a minor respiratory illness when caught and treated early. Grants Animal Care Center Director Madison Martinez said “The strain we are currently seeing is highly contagious and has affected a number of dogs, including vaccinated animals. Fortunately, the dogs are doing very well.” The dogs reportedly remain active and playful, with coughing being the main symptom.
The illness was discovered early by staff and led to the immediate activation of the center’s outbreak-response protocols. Over the past few months, the center has enhanced its procedures and staff training for infectious disease prevention and response. This includes recognizing early symptoms, proper quarantine, the use of personal protective equipment, and increase of sanitation and disinfection. “Those protocols have been especially important during this outbreak,” Martinez said. Exposed dogs have been immediately quarantined and treated with doxycycline.
“Nearly all of the dogs that initially showed symptoms are no longer coughing after 5 days of treatment,” Martinez reported. “We are continuing to quarantine them while they complete treatment and until our veterinarian determines they are no longer contagious.”
Due to the airborne nature of the outbreak, the Grants Animal Care Center has paused non-emergency intakes, anticipating the halt will last until October 9 or October 12, based on veterinary guidance. This timeline is to give the affected dogs time to recover and protect incoming animals from being exposed to the illness.
“While an infectious disease outbreak is never something a shelter wants to experience, we are proud of how quickly our team responded,” Martinez said. “The training, procedures and preparedness we have put in place allowed us to identify the situation on day one.”
This temporary intake pause was said to be an important part of that response. Martinez said, “It allows us to protect the animals already in our care while ensuring that new animals entering the facility are not unnecessarily exposed. We will resume normal intake operations as soon as our veterinarian determines it is safe to do so.”
The center continues to accept animals requiring emergency medical care and those posing an immediate threat to public safety.