The Walker County Animal Shelter reopens today. The shelter completed a 30-day quarantine after a litter of surrendered puppies tested positive for canine distemper virus (CDV). All eight puppies in the litter succumbed to the virus. No other animals at the shelter had issues during the quarantine.

CDV is an extremely contagious airborne virus. Due to the shelter’s open-concept design and lack of adequate facilities to properly isolate and quarantine exposed animals, a full shutdown was necessary.

During the closure, shelter staff performed a deep cleaning of all equipment in the facility, as well as every entry and exit point.

There are currently more than 60 animals available for adoption at the shelter. Our team requests patience over the next several days while they work to process a backlog of stray animals and surrenders.

The shelter, which is located at 5488 North Marble Top Road outside of Chickamauga, is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.