Woodbury Humane Society approved to re-open doors for adoptions soon after dog flu outbreak
WOODBURY, Minn. – The doors will open again soon at the Woodbury Animal Humane Society, after closing on April 6 because of a dog influenza outbreak.
"We are so excited to get barking and meowing back here because the quiet is just eerie," said Astrid Roed, shelter operations manager at Woodbury AHS.
Their kennels would normally be filled with up to 100 dogs, cats and critters. Instead, all those animals are quarantining at the other humane society locations in Golden Valley and Coon Rapids.
During the outbreak, seven dogs needed to be put down because of a combination of the virus and behavioral issues, but most of the dogs who fell ill are on the mend.
"Right now, our animals are starting to feel better, the dogs are, all over at the other two sites now, so that's really encouraging," said Roed.
Even though cats and critters can't get the virus, they were still ordered to quarantine by the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. While the animals were gone, Roed and her staff went to work.
"We started a process of deep cleaning everything that you see here - laundry, dishes, kennels, everything - so it doesn't even smell like an animal shelter anymore," said Roed.
Their work paid off and the board gave the green light to open the shelter again. The shelter's first intake dog came in Monday afternoon.
They had to cancel dozens of intake appointments in April during the closure. So for the next few weeks, they will be playing catch up and taking in only a small amount of new animals.
"We just want to get them back in the door, to get them back out the door and into new homes," said Roed.
While intake appointments will remain limited for now, they plan to open their doors to the public for adoptions starting next week. Their goal date for adoptions is Tuesday, May 9.
The three-week closure has been a financial setback for shelters. They will hold a "Walk for Animals" fundraiser at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds this Saturday. As a precaution, dogs are still not allowed to attend.
They encourage people to bring any donations to this fundraiser while their doors are still closed to the general public.