Hollister Animal Shelter not accepting stray animals while under quarantine after parvovirus found in animals

HOLLISTER, Calif. (KION) - An outbreak of parvovirus from a stray kitten has the Hollister Animal Shelter under quarantine, meaning they will not be able to take in strays or owner-surrendered animals.

People in Hollister are saying this couldn't have come at a worse time with the 4th of July weekend ahead.

Melissa Casillas is an independent rescuer in San Benito County. She has witnessed firsthand the importance of caring for animals when they're the most vulnerable.

"If people don't have a safe place to take their animals, then what are they doing with them? Are the animals remaining on the streets and dying? Are they, you know, are they being dumped somewhere? It's just really cruel," said Casillas.

Casillas was shocked to hear the shelter could be closed during a time when shelters are most needed, during the 4th of July holiday.

"For them to be shutting down during kind of the worst time, where animals have the biggest need to have a sheltering environment and be safe and not have dogs running in the streets. It also creates a liability for humans as well, because when you have dogs in the terrified, they run on the roads. You have people breaking, you have people swerving," said Casillas.

According to the Hollister Animal Shelter, a kitten and a litter of puppies were entered into the shelter with parvovirus. It's a highly contagious virus that has resulted in the shelter being under quarantine, possibly for the next two weeks.

The shelter says they examine all animals before, but no signs of symptoms until a few days later.

"The virus can lie dormant on surfaces for up to two weeks. So that's why we're observing a strict quarantine period and taking even more extensive measures to go ahead and kind of mitigate that issue with super powerful cleaning agents," said Carillo.

Melissa says more could have been done, and worries there is no backup plan.

"It's really concerning that there are no emergency drop-off kennels. There used to be night kennels where people could go and take their animals and drop them off in the middle of the night," said Casillas.

So, what should you do if you come across a stray?

"We always recommend that you post to social media, knock on doors. Typically with animals that are out and looking lost, they're not far from home." said Carillo.

Carillo says there have been rare instances of limited operations, but not a full quarantine.

They also added that there is a potential for the quarantine to last less than 2 weeks, but they are taking it on a day-by-day basis.