WASHINGTON STATE — Twenty massive cats at a wild animal sanctuary in Shelton have died from the hen flu.
It occurred inside a matter of days round Thanksgiving, and now the non-profit is making ready to wash so it could actually reopen to the general public subsequent 12 months. The Wild Felid Advocacy Center introduced greater than half of its massive cats as of December have been contaminated with hen flu.
“It’s been one massive nightmare. I by no means thought one thing like this might occur to us,” Wild Felid Advocacy Center Director and Co-Founder Mark Mathews informed KOMO News. “Maybe solely at a facility that had cats close to one another, and ours are unfold out over 5 acres.”
The tragedy has deeply affected the sanctuary staff who’re grieving the lack of 20 animals that had been a part of worldwide wild cat conservation efforts. They embody tigers, cougars, lynxes, bobcats, and different massive cats.
“Tabbi, she was my favourite tiger,” Mathews added. “Before Thanksgiving, we had 37 cats. Today, we now have 17 cats, [including] 4 recovering.”
“Usually, when a vet comes out they usually do immobilization, they begin to really feel higher, and with Harley [the cougar], it was totally different as a result of he made it fairly apparent he wasn’t feeling higher after his remedy,” mentioned Jolie Connolly-Poe with the sanctuary.
The viral an infection carried by wild birds can unfold by respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact and may impression different mammals that eat birds or hen droppings.
This comes because the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reports avian influenza instances are on the rise throughout the state. Cats are significantly weak, and signs occur quick, typically killing the animals inside days from situations like pneumonia.
“[I’m] feeling devastated. Kind of in shock. It simply feels horrible that you just take such excellent care of them, after which one thing unexpected takes its toll actual quick,” Connolly-Poe mentioned. “Just taking excellent care of these recovering.”
Mathews defined in his 20 years working the sanctuary, he and his volunteers by no means skilled something like this. Now, the non-profit is taking in depth measures, like washing boots and suiting up in PPE earlier than coming into the sanctuary as they put together to disinfect every part.
The sanctuary is beneath quarantine to assist shield their remaining animals. Mathews expects it will likely be months earlier than they reopen to tour teams after getting approval from the Department of Agriculture.
