Citrus County dogs ready for adoption

Saturday, December 30, 2006

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The dogs are out this weekend after a virus outbreak caused the Citrus County Animal Shelter to suspend adoption for almost a month, forcing about 30 dogs to be euthenized.

"This is a big time that people do that and unfortunately over the holidays, we were closed for adoptions," Citrus County spokeswoman Jessica Lambert said.

For three weeks, not even puppy eyes could get people in and out of the shelter.

Residents had to find their four legged Christmas gifts elsewhere. However, the cause of the virus was finally found through testing.

"We found out that it was distemper canine and there is a booster for that, so all of the animals inside the animal shelter were given that booster and now they're all healthy and ready to be adopted," Lambert said.

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Kristine Siordia was one of many people who followed the story and were out after the shelter opened for business on Wednesday.

"We heard that the adoptions were back up and we thought, 'let's see if there's a Christmas puppy we can get'," Sordia said.

After almost a month, there's plenty of pets willing and ready for a new home.

A different virus shut down adoptions for a short time this past spring, but county officials believe the latest outbreak shut down the animal shelter for the longest time ever.

In late October, the canine distemper virus also shut down Hillsborough County's pet adoption center. Adoptions there were also suspended for about three weeks because of the viral outbreak.