The Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter expects to open its doors again soon, but the shelter’s veterinarian says it will have to do more to combat pet-owner negligence if it hopes to prevent future disease outbreaks.

Dr. Robert Pitman, who serves as the shelter’s veterinarian, said employees have worked for days cleaning and disinfecting the shelter after a dog with canine distemper was turned in and spread the virus to other animals. He said workers hope to have the shelter back up and running soon, but “the biggest issue we’re having is negligence on the part of people turning animals into the shelter” that are not immunized or sick.

“We’re going to be more stringent about not putting sick animals in the building at all,” he told The News Courier. “We do inspect them and take their temperature and make notes of any difficulties or body condition scores, but we had one slipped on us with a cough that also had a secondary infection of distemper.”

As a result, several animals became infected, some so severely they had to be euthanized. The shelter voluntarily ceased intake of new animals while workers treated the outbreak and prevented further spread of the highly contagious disease. Auburn University is assisting. Pitman reached out to them earlier this week.

“I got a call from a guy running tests at Auburn who said we’ve got a real mess on our hands, but shelters go through this from time to time,” Pitman said. “… We know we have a problem, so we’re involving all the experts.”

He expects the shelter to reopen soon. However, unless pet owners start acting more responsibly by getting their pets vaccinated and refraining from turning in sick animals, it may just be a matter of time before an infection sweeps the shelter again.

“There is such apathy in the local community about animal rights,” he said. “… This isn’t a $2 million facility and we do it as well as we can.”