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Veterinarians honored for efforts
to save Puerto Rican dogs

Dr. Julie Levy

Two UF College of Veterinary Medicine faculty members were honored recently by the Florida Veterinary Medical Association for their efforts on behalf of more than 200 puppies from Puerto Rico that arrived in Florida infected with parvovirus, resulting in a large-scale disease outbreak response involving multiple agencies.

Drs. Julie Levy and Cynda Crawford, both with the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at UF, spent “weeks of time and much devotion in organizing, scheduling and working on the volunteer crisis effort,” according to a press release from the FVMA.

Dr. Cynda Crawford

In September 2010, more than 200 puppies arrived in Florida with a layover on their way to New York from Puerto Rico to be part of a Labor Day Weekend adoption event. Those puppies never completed their trip.

Several of the puppies were infected with parvovirus and distemper virus while in Puerto Rico, resulting in transmission of these infections to the majority of the puppies. The first state-mandated quarantine for dogs in Florida was declared by the state veterinarian resulting in an Incident Command System instituted for management of the large-scale disease outbreak response utilizing expertise from veterinarians with the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at UF, the ASPCA disaster response teams, Sumter Disaster Animal Response Team (SDART), Bay Area DART volunteers and the UF Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service. Fifteen FVMA members also volunteered in the effort.

(Editor’s note: Information from this article came in part from a press release generated by the FVMA.)