The Laurel County Animal Shelter is not accepting any dogs or allowing any of them to be adopted after a case of the contagious and potentially deadly disease distemper was reported last week. Laurel Judge-Executive David Westerfield said he made the call after reaching out to experts.
“We talked to all the local Vance and also called the state about what we should do, and we follow the state protocols by closing.”
The closure is expected to last four weeks. Westerfield said he’s an animal lover – and other animal lovers who operate rescues are taking the dogs that would have been taken to the shelter.
“I really appreciate the community stepping up, to help us to combat this problem. For the next four weeks. It's just been phenomenal. The people that's come forward, offered the help. And it's made the transition so much easier.”
Westerfield has been judge-executive for the last 13 years and was a member of Laurel Fiscal Court for a dozen before that. He said this is the first distemper problem he can recall at the Laurel shelter.
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