ODESSA, Texas — In West Texas, veterinarians are seeing a spread in distemper in dogs.
"In this West Texas region, everything pretty much West of Abilene we were seeing signs of it. I’ve spoken with the state veterinarian for this region and he said it’s very, very bad," says Kelley Hendricks, Odessa Animal Shelter Manager.
Distemper is a very contagious virus dogs can catch, affecting them physically and mentally.
"You’ll see nasal discharge, eye discharge, lethargic they’re just an unhappy dog very laid-back and you can tell they don’t feel good," she says, "then the neurological signs start showing up that’s the involuntary twitching and it starts affecting their brain."
Local animal shelters, like Odessa Police Animal Control want to make sure you're keeping your dog and other dogs safe. The best way to do so is by making sure your animal is regularly vaccinated.
"It’s caused by people it’s caused by people not vaccinating their animals not keeping their animals in their yards in their homes there are city ordinance about restraining dogs keep them in your yard and fencing and anything up because when you just let your dogs run loose. They're going to come in contact with Parvo dogs they're going to come in contact with distemper dogs," says Hendricks.
A dog can come in contact with an infected dog and contract the virus through saliva, feces, etc.
So as soon as you bring a new dog or pup into your home, Animal Control says you should do two things:
"The way you stop it first is spay and neuter and second is vaccinations, you’ve got to do that."
Also remember vaccinating your dog will not protect them 100% from distemper, however, it can lower their chance of contracting it.
"So it all starts back in the home it all starts back in the community and it’s the community that’s going to stop it. Tt’s not animal control officers, it’s not the shelter, we are just trying to pick up the pieces of what’s happening in our community and that’s what’s causing the problem," says Hendricks.