Shelter Reopened after Dog Tests Negative

LONGVIEW — Longview’s animal shelter reopened after medical tests showed a puppy that died after being brought in did not have distemper. Shelter Director Christine Kerr said the animal’s cause of death was determined to be an upper respiratory infection. The suspicious death prompted Kerr and her staff to close the Enterprise Street shelter to the public and establish a temporary shelter for new animals at the Longview Fairgrounds.

“As it turns out, it was not a case of distemper or any other contagious disease,” Kerr wrote in a statement to local media Friday afternoon. “The puppy room, where the animal was housed, has been deep cleaned for the last three days after all remaining puppies were moved to an isolation area. None of the animals show any signs of illness.”

The shelter closed its doors Tuesday. Since then, all adoptions were put on hold. Thanks to a record, 204 adoptions in September and 57 the first week of October, the shelter was not filled when the facility closed. No animals were euthanized during the closure, Kerr said. The city of Longview opened a pen adjacent to the Longview Rodeo Arena at the fairgrounds for a temporary shelter.