Humane Society back in business

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
FURRY FRIEND —Nick Dickinson plays with one of the many kittens up for adoption at the newly reopened Houlton Humane Society. The animal shelter, which had been closed for 16 weeks due to quarantine, held its grand reopening Saturday.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Visitors to the Houlton Humane Society can see a heartfelt tribute to the many animals that perished in the spring of 2010. A plaque hangs outside the wall of the Callaghan Road shelter, while a memorial garden was created for the animals the shelter lost.
    After 16 weeks of quarantine due to a ringworm outbreak, the shelter celebrated its grand reopening Saturday. The event marked the first time members of the public were able to adopt cats and dogs, and the public responded in force.
    “We had nine cats and four dogs adopted,” said Cathy Davis, a volunteer for the shelter. “What a fantastic day.”
    Heather Miller, director for the Houlton Humane Society, said her staff has endured much during the many weeks of quarantine.
    “We spent eight hours a day, six to seven days a week for 16 weeks on this place,” Miller said. “We painted and re-painted. Ripped off door trims, put polyurethane on all the wood and replaced furniture. We basically had to start from the ground up.”
    With the building essentially gutted, changes were made to many of the rooms to improve workflow.
    “We made an actual exam room so sick animals are in one place only,” Miller said. “That way if we do get a sick animal, it will only impact this one room and not the entire building.”
    An isolation room and quarantine room are also located in the rear of the building. All strays will now be brought into the shelter through the back of the building, to minimize exposure to the existing animals.
    Because new stray animals came in on almost a daily basis during the quarantine period, the shelter sought the help of foster families to look after the pets. The shelter had roughly 10 households serving as foster parents for 33 cats and four dogs.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
MEMORIAL GARDEN — Houlton Humane Society staff members, from left, Kate Pyle, Assistant Shelter Director Courtney Nelson and Shelter Director Heather Miller stand next to the memorial garden created to remember the many animals that had to be put down due to the ringworm virus.
    Supporters of the shelter have helped in a variety of ways, from re-seeding grass areas, to painting signs and creating the memorial garden. The shelter has five paid employees and four volunteers.
    “We’ve received a lot of support from the community,” Miller said. “Everything from people buying blankets, new litter boxes and food dishes. Basically, everything in here now is new from someone.”
    While much of the community has supported the shelter, Miller admits that not everyone has agreed with how they handled the ringworm outbreak.
    “Because we are a no-kill shelter, it’s been hard for people to understand why we euthanized the animals we did,” Miller said. “Unless they were here, and saw what we saw, it’s impossible to understand.”
    At the time the outbreak was discovered, it had already spread throughout the entire building, exposing every animal to the fungal infection. The shelter had 113 cats.
    “We went through every single animal, and if they had been sick or their immune system had been compromised, the only humane thing to do – at our vet’s recommendation — was to euthanize them,” she said.
    The shelter first euthanized 81 cats; however, the remaining 33 cats, over a 12-week period, also contracted the disease. Attempts were made to save those animals, treating them with sulfur dips, shaving all the hair and clipping their nails. When those efforts failed, the remaining cats and dogs were also euthanized.
    “In order to save this building and carry on, it was something we had to do,” Miller said. “It was emotionally draining on all of us. We were attached to every one of those animals, so it was like we were losing members of our family.”
    All of the animals were cremated, Miller said.
    Ringworm is a fungal infection that can affect the hair, skin or nails of cats, dogs and humans. It is the most common contagious skin infection in cats and can be extremely difficult to diagnose in the early stages.
    “Unless there are visible sores, you would not know that an animal is a carrier,” Miller said. “Once we started noticing sores, we brought in a black light. The spores grow green under the black light, and our whole building was glowing. We just didn’t know.”
    Miller said the testing procedure for cats is both costly and lengthy in duration – taking upwards of 14 days to get the results.
    While the building was closed, workers had to keep work clothes at the shelter and change into those clothes each morning.
    “We wore masks, gowns and gloves,” she said. “When we left we had to change our clothes, and then change again once we got home and immediately shower so as not to transmit the disease. We all have families with children and we took a risk everyday that we could have transmitted it to our families. We all made sacrifices to get to where we are today.”
    The former shelter building, located adjacent to the Humane Society, is in the process of being torn down. Miller said the plan is to use the cement foundation from that building to use as a slab for dog kennels, making them easier to clean.
    The shelter is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on adopting a pet, call 532-2862.