N.L. dog rescue volunteer points to emotional and financial toll after 4 puppies die

A Newfoundland dog rescue volunteer is speaking out after four puppies in her care died from contracting a highly transmissible and deadly virus, a tragic outcome that she says highlights both the emotional and financial toll of animal rescue work. 

Susan Prosser, a volunteer with animal rescue group Paw2Love, recently helped bring 11 dogs from Labrador to Newfoundland to get them adopted. Not long after, four puppies tested positive for canine parvovirus and died.

"It does not matter how long you've had them, it still hits you hard. And from a rescuer, you know, you brought these dogs to save them, and then you can't save them and that's difficult," Prosser told CBC News from Bay Roberts.

Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious virus that spreads through contaminated feces. Symptoms include lethargy, vomiting and bloody diarrhea, which can cause dehydration that can lead to death.

Prosser said when they take dogs in, they are isolated for a few days while the dogs are given flea and tick medication. During that period, eight- to nine-week-old puppies Woody and Snoopy became very ill.

Prosser had to make the two-hour drive to the nearby vet, arriving at 2:30 a.m., when she said Woody died in her arms in the parking lot.

Snoopy tested positive for canine parvovirus and was brought to an emergency veterinarian clinic in Mount Pearl, but Prosser said he was in such bad state he had to be euthanized.

Not long after, she said five-week-old puppies Finn and Oscar developed symptoms and also had to be euthanized.

"It takes a toll on you personally and emotionally. And I've been in rescue 37 years and it still affects you. There's no getting around it," said Prosser.

There are other dogs in her home and she said she had to keep the infected puppies isolated from the others to stop the virus's spread.

"It's overwhelming at times, and you just have to focus on keeping going and doing everything you're doing and just hoping that it doesn't make anybody else sick," said Prosser.

Strain on small group

Prosser said Paw2Love is volunteer-based, with foster families taking in dogs while the group looks for people to adopt the dogs and hosts dog adoption events that the public can drop in on.

She said the group, which also has a presence in Ontario, rescues dogs from the U.S. as well as within Newfoundland and Labrador.

"There's a tremendous need in Texas for rescue and dogs are abandoned and, you know, basically just dropped off in the middle of nowhere and in high numbers," said Prosser.

The group is limited by the number of dogs they can rescue by the number of foster families, Prosser said, adding they are looking for more people to sign up.

On top of the heavy emotional toll of losing the four puppies, Prosser said it has put significant financial stress on the rescue organization.

"As a small rescue, it's really difficult to handle that financial aspect because when it's an emergency, you have to pay up front for them to even be seen. So that basically landed on my credit card," she said.

Prosser said she spent $4,481.80 in vet bills on the four puppies but she has been able to fundraise approximately $3,000 to cover that.

However, the bills have meant a temporary pause to the group's Newfoundland and Labrador operations, she said.

"We had to obviously stop intake at that point, because we couldn't support bringing more dogs in."

Virus taken seriously

Dr. Maggie Brown-Bury, who sits on Newfoundland and Labrador Veterinary Medical Association's executive council, says canine parvovirus is a highly contagious virus that can be fatal to puppies before they have the chance to get vaccinated.

"Thankfully, we do not have a lot of parvovirus pop up on the island of Newfoundland," said Brown-Bury.

However, she said there tend to be more cases in Labrador, where vaccination rates are lower.

She said if someone visits a house where a puppy has the virus, they can unknowingly bring it back to their home, further spreading the virus.

While there is no active tracking system for the virus in Newfoundland and Labrador, Brown-Bury said vets will post about cases over social media to warn the public, adding that pet owners also speak out in the dog-owning community to generate awareness.

"We certainly don't want to see a lot of cases pop up. So we're going to spread the word if we think there's a chance there's going to be an outbreak," she said.

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