Nine dogs have had to be put down at Christchurch’s animal shelter following an outbreak of the highly contagious parvovirus.

The facility was temporarily closed for two weeks.

The quarantine of the facility will be lifted on Monday 17 April from 1pm.

Christchurch City Council Animal Services Manager Lionel Bridger said “parvovirus is extremely contagious with mortality rates in unvaccinated dogs as high as 90%.

Unfortunately, this has meant we had to euthanise nine dogs that were ill with the virus.” 

He said “euthanasia is a last resort of our team so this incident highlights how incredibly important it is that dog owners ensure their dogs are fully vaccinated.”

“While managing the outbreak we ensured all dogs in our care at the time of the outbreak received their first vaccination, on Tuesday testing has was undertaken for these dogs and the results have all come back negative,” Bridger said.

The Animal Shelter will be open for adoptions from Monday and the free microchipping service will commence on Wednesday 19 April between 11am and 12pm.

Owners who have a dog at the Animal Shelter should claim them as soon as possible.