Rescue - a question or two or ten

Last week my mom got a call from a rescue group she had fostered a senior dog for last year. They needed someone to foster some puppies that they were getting from out of state. Could she foster? Of course she could!

So. She got 3 labrador mix puppies on Thursday. I stopped and saw them last night. I am not a labrador fan, but they were cute and cuddly. I must admit - the favorite was the biggest one. This morning mom calls to tell me that the puppies are not eating and although the two smaller ones are running around and playing, the biggest one is not and she is taking him to the vet. The vet diagnosed the puppy with parvo. AAAAACCCKKKKKK!

Now, the rescue group will be collecting the puppies from Mom this afternoon. The biggest will be treated but the two other ones will not until they are symptomatic.

My mom is just devestated by this. She built her house and has lived in it with her dogs since it was finished. She has always been very, very careful and her house and yard have never been exposed to anything like this. She was really looking forward to getting a young doberman but is very concerned that she may not be able to bring one into her yard. Not to mention the fact that she will no longer be able to foster, if she decides to take the risk again.

So, here are my questions....

When a rescue group transports puppies in from an out of state shelter, do they usually do any kind of vetting or just put them in the foster home? Aren't they quarantined or the fosters instructed to quarantine?

And most important - what does Mom do now that these germs are in her yard? Is there something she can use to get rid of the contaminates in the yard or does she have to wait it out?

omg what s crappy situation for your mom :sad:

I don't know what she could do about her yard or house but I know that Parvo is very contagious and will stay for 6 months ? even after clean up.

About the rescues and pups .... like always , depends on the rescue , depends on the time they have to place the pups. Rescues will usually have the pups vetted before putting them into a foster home. But some health issues can come up AFTER , once they are into their foster homes.

Did the vet actually do a parvo test or just assume it was parvo? (asking before I go into a lengthy post of what to do as you don't mention diarehea or vomiting)

Did the vet actually do a parvo test or just assume it was parvo? (asking before I go into a lengthy post of what to do as you don't mention diarehea or vomiting)

Yes. There was a test done. The diarhea started (in the first pup) on the way home from the vet's office.

Mom got the standard sheet from the vet on how to treat the puppy and how to disinfect her house/yard.

I guess what I want to know is - do rescue groups usually just bring puppies from another location and dump them on a foster family without doing any testing or putting the puppies in any kind of quarantine? Don't they warn the foster families that the puppies should be quarantined and may have been exposed to parvo?

So then there has been no diarehea in her house..... that's great.

Foster homes can expect to get any disease possible when fostering. It's the rescues job to make sure that foster homes understand that. I quarantine my incoming if I suspect there is a possibility and only move to a foster family after two weeks. If the dog came from a proper home and has at least 2 vaccinations then there is very little risk. Anything coming from a shelter, 2 weeks quarantine prior to going to a foster home.

LR if you were there last night then you need to disinfect as well! Forgot to mention that.

Thankfully, Rusty is current on his shots, as he was sitting in my lap within minutes of my getting home from Mom's. :eek:

I am assuming (I know that is dangerous) that these puppies came from a shelter as there were 17 dogs brought up in transport from Southern Ohio.

I realize that when you foster, you run a risk. It just seems to me that a good rescue would make sure that the foster home would know as much as possible reguarding where the puppies came from and such. That way the foster home could make an educated decision on where in the home the puppies will stay and whether they will be allowed to interact with other pets and people right away.

With that number, they most likely came out of a gassing shelter.

Some rescues just run around willy nilly looking for a warm body to foster and don't look at the big picture or the potential risks.

Good rescues spend a few hours with the potential foster family on home screening then go over everything briefly about each potential foster animal candidate once they are approved and a foster animal is available to them.

The pups should not have gone direct from this type of shelter to a home or if they did then they should have been quarantined to a room and a small patch of grass for 2 weeks by using a small playyard.