Dog owners urged to be on lookout for parvovirus
MILWAUKEE (WITI) — Animal experts say this year they’re seeing more dogs affected by parvovirus.
Parvovirus affects the intestinal track and is easily transferred from dog to dog. It has very common symptoms, but if not detected early has deadly results. Parvo is highly contagious and life threatening.
“It lives for a long time on things like grass. So they could be out walking around, they could be on the streets walking around,†said Jessica Huber, with the Milwaukee Area Animal Control Commission.
Huber said based on what they`re seeing, it`s been a bad year for the virus. “We had 7 in one day which is quite high for us,†said Huber, “and at that point it’s usually too far gone for any kind of treatment, so they are usually coming to us to put the dog to sleep.â€
Symptoms for the parvovirus include lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea.
Even if they see the dog in time for treatment, it can be very expensive, and it`s not guaranteed to work.
Huber said the best bet is the vaccine. She said it is very inexpensive, and easy to administer to the dogs.
Huber says it’s not only the better way to go, it`s the only way to go if you want to get into dog parks like a new one that’s coming to Bay View.
“You can get a permit to use the dog park, and you`ll be able to use all 5 other dog parks in the county. But in order to get that permit, you`re going to have to get vaccinated,†said Alderman Tony Zielinski.
The Bay View dog park is scheduled to open in September. Ground breaking for the park was on Wednesday. It will be Milwaukee’s sixth dog park.
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