St. Louis County reviews parvovirus outbreak and shelter operations after 28 dogs test positive, 19 euthanized

St. Louis County Council committee members held a May 29 hearing to review shelter operations at the county Animal Care and Control Adoption Center after a parvovirus outbreak in April left 28 dogs testing positive and 19 dogs humanely euthanized.

Dr. Kanika Cunningham, director of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, told the committee the outbreak revealed breaks in intake and clinical monitoring. “So far, we have found that established protocols were not followed in monitoring some of the animals at intake,” she said, and added that “as of today, we have had no new cases in over a month.”

The council hearing focused on three intertwined problems: the parvovirus outbreak and clinical response, repeated state inspection findings tied to facility, sanitation and capacity issues, and staffing and supervision during and after the county’s February takeover of shelter operations from a contractor known in the transcript as APA.

What county officials said

Dr. Cunningham described steps taken and investigations launched. She told the committee she requested an HR investigation “early on” to review what contributed to the outbreak and protocol lapses. Committee members were told the first confirmed parvo case was identified in mid-April and that testing in shelter care identified 28 positive dogs; 19 were euthanized and nine were transferred to partner rescues or fostered, county staff said.

Dr. Cunningham also reported that the county does not currently hold a Department of Agriculture license for the facility; county staff said the license application had been resubmitted to the…