Viruses plague Washington County Animal Shelter

Dobbs said one of the viruses is worse than the rest, grounding the cats that catch it. The shelter can’t afford injectable treatment, so Dobbs said she and her staff have been trying to give the sick cats oral medication even though the viruses force many of them to breathe through their mouths.

Since Friday, the Weber County Animal Shelter has been taking in the cats and kittens and is now overloaded.

According to County Manager Bill Clark, the incident took place over the weekend.

Shelter Director Debbie Dobbs said the decision is never an easy one, but the viruses mutated too quickly for the cats to appropriately respond to medication – and the shelter has tried three different antibiotics to cure the viruses. Click on the Animal Care and Enforcement tab and then on the Adopt link.

But with so many cats, the shelter is in desperate need for food. “They said they are everywhere, in every nook and cranny that a cat can be at”. These newest arrivals have the shelter handling 170 cats.

“For us to buy them we would be out of resources and be out of money before the end of the year”, said Lt. Ferrin. Most are going to the shelters.

The animal shelter is also in need of donations and items, especially kitten milk replacer powder, hard kitten food and cat litter, Ferrin said.

Fundraising to replace the Chatham-Kent Animal Shelter is well underway. After only four months, she had 50 cats in her home.

So far during the renovations, 37 animals have been adopted by residents and 65 have been taken by organizations that find homes for the animals.

Cash donations will go directly to the cats for vaccinations and spaying/neutering so they can be ready for adoptions, Ferrin said. Contacted at 801-710-6440 for more information or to volunteer to foster.