Pet Talk

    Last Wednesday, Shelter Director Heather Miller, Assistant Director Courtney Nelson and I attended the annual meeting of the Maine Federation of Humane Societies, held at the Black Bear Inn in Orono.  We received a “scholarship” for this from the Humane Society of the United States which was really nice because these annual meetings are jam-packed full of information and you have a full day to network with other people in the same industry.
    I had an opportunity to spend some time with Karen Stimpson, Executive Director of Coastal Humane, and speak with her on a more personal level about their experiences with ringworm.   The information that I shared with the Pioneer in last week’s interview was slightly wrong, I learned.   Coastal Humane did not lose 80 animals during this outbreak, they lost over 100.  Twenty six of their cats died from the treatment.  Karen said that animals with any kind of compromised immune system did not handle the treatment well.  This is very scary considering all the animals we have right now that are undergoing treatment.  They also did not lose 100% of their cat population as I had originally understood.  They had over 250 cats when they started and they lost over 100 of them, so they were able to save quite a few.
    I am so very thankful that we did not have 250 cats when we discovered ringworm.  This entire situation is sad enough without doubling the numbers.  Our adoption rates have been excellent and we had around 111 cats when the outbreak hit.  
    Our staff has worked so hard at saving those that were not infected.  They have been doing sulfur treatments, bleaching the buildings down from top to bottom, everything had to come out of every cupboard and be washed down with bleach and put back, every surface had to be washed, the air exchange system had to be cleaned and new filters installed, we had to throw away cat towers and beds, anything upholstered had to be thrown, everybody is totally exhausted from this process.
    The bills continue to mount.  Coastal Humane tells me that it cost them $150,000 when they had ringworm.  Between the cost of the Veterinary care, medications and dips, the extra staff to come in and totally take their building apart, clean it, and put it back together, their lost revenue, both from adoptions and from bad press, and then in their case, they decided to also paint while the building was empty, and to build some new housing so they could spread out their population better, and they were out of service for 90 days.
    We also found out while at the Maine Federation meeting that right now five other animal shelters are under quarantine for ringworm.  We had no idea.  We knew it was “out there” and that others had experienced this in the past but we did not know so many are fighting this right now.  From what we heard, we were the lucky ones.  We caught it early, and we hope to receive a clean bill of health and be able to re-open within a month, our animals are tolerating the treatment fairly well so far, and our building is newer than most so only minor repairs are necessary, such as replacing the trim around the doors where the cats have scratched, and patching some holes and marks on the sheetrock.  We’ll likely do a little painting too while we have the chance.  
    Our entire staff is totally burned out at this point, they have all worked so hard and we are grateful for their time and their dedication.  They have earned a rest.  If you know any of these wonderful people, the next time you see them, give them a hug.  This hasn’t been easy and it’s not over yet and they deserve all of our support for the excellent job they are doing to try to save all the animals they can.