FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A local animal refuge is dealing with a serious health concern inside the shelter and it is quite the scare for caretakers.
A couple of weeks ago, some of the dogs at Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge started experiencing diarrhea.
Staff at Blue Chip say this is not out of the norm because it could be brought on by stress caused by the number of dogs coming in and out of the refuge.
However, staff began to realize it was something a bit more concerning
“Some of our volunteers felt that it was a little more than that and then saw on the Internet that some shelters were experiencing dog flu and other things. So as a precaution to that we shut down and just wanna make sure we got everything out on an even-keeled and test came back that we didn’t have the flu, dog flu and are all of our dogs quickly recover,” said Marge Bart, Founder and President of Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge.
Bart says that the dogs were experiencing a stomach bug. The shelter passed along some signs of the dog flu that pet owners should be aware of are…
“If they’re vomiting, that’s a little more serious, and diarrhea, because we find that stress with dogs usually results in diarrhea, doesn’t result in vomiting, and vomiting of course can be a lot of things but again the thing to watch out for dehydration because that’s a serious thing,” said Bart.
Along with dogs and cats, they also have some farm animals such as pot-belly pigs, bunnies, horses, and more- who staff the staff was concerned about.
The shelter will be returning to business as usual on Thursday. Staff members and volunteers are very thankful for the community’s support.
“People were outpouring with both donations, and you know, monetary gifts, so we really appreciate our supporters,” said Bart.
If your dog is displaying any symptoms, the best thing to do is take them to the vet.
