Following the posting of an immediate closure on November 15, the Levelland Animal Shelter is back up and running at half capacity in order to make much needed adjustments to their kennels.
The notice of closure was made in regard to a distemper case requiring the shelter to be closed.
According to the notice, the City of Levelland had been informed by the College Ave. Animal Clinic, a stray dog that was picked up on October 24, had tested positive for Distemper Virus and Mycoplasmacynos. The test was confirmed with an independent testing company IDEXX.
In accordance with the Texas Department of State Health Services Zoonosis Control Program, the Levelland Animal Shelter needed to take immediate action and close the shelter. The shelter will remain closed until January 2. The closure allowed employees the time to disinfect and sterilize the facility to eradicate the highly contagious virus.
At the time of the notice, Levelland Police Captain Tammie McDonald provided a statement, “The safety of our city and our citizens’ pets is of the most importance to our department. We apologize for the inconvenience of not being able to take any animals to the shelter including animals surrendered until we know that the virus is completely gone.”
During the time of closure, the department was only be able to respond to animal bite situations to take reports and provide situational information on actions that can be taken at that time.
As the shelter is only operating at half capacity, the department is utilizing $30,000 that was allocated as a capital outlay project from the Levelland City Council to replace half of the kennels with stainless steel kennels.
While stray animals, in particular dogs, have been a common complaint among community members within the area, the animal shelter must also handle the animals in a responsible manner due to the diseases the animal could be carrying.
The department hopes the stainless steel kennels will minimize the diseases spread within the facility as stainless steel has become the recommended material of choice.