Dogs under quarantine at AHeinz57 Pet Rescue due to canine brucellosis scare; photo courtesy of AHeinz57

Prior to this year, you would have been forgiven if you weren’t aware of what canine brucellosis is. However, the issue has gained a lot of notoriety recently due to a large number of dogs being shown to have the disease, which can be passed to humans.

Many of the animals came from a former puppy mill in Knoxville which closed its doors and auctioned its puppies away. Amy Heinz with AHeinz57 Pet Rescue and Transport in DeSoto purchased and brought home 31 of those dogs in May, though she emphasizes that she’ll only buy puppy mill dogs when the facilities are shutting down. Shortly thereafter the brucellosis scare began, leading to a quarantine that has not been lifted. Heinz emphasizes that none of her dogs have tested positive for brucellosis, though there is one that has unrelated health problems that is perpetuating the quarantine. Heinz tells Raccoon Valley Radio that while being quarantined is frustrating, she’s more angry at the root of the problem, which is the conditions inside puppy mills that lead to this sort of serious illness in dogs.

“Brucellosis is actually a livestock disease, but because Iowans are allowing commercial breeders to treat dogs like livestock, they’re getting livestock diseases. So now we’ve got a strain of canine brucellosis, which is zoonotic meaning it can transfer to people. They can cause you to have flu-like symptoms that just hang on for months and you don’t know why you’re sick. And they can even cause a pregnant woman to miscarry her unborn child. There’s serious complications from this disease, which is why the Department of Ag is taking this so seriously. But it is important that we do take it seriously and not purchase dogs from puppy mills, we have to stop treating dogs like livestock. You don’t take a cow home and cuddle it in bed with you. You do take a cute little puppy home and cuddle it, so the threat to humans is so much worse when brucellosis pops up in dogs.”

Heinz advises prospective dog owners to do their homework on the breeders they’re buying from, and says it’s a good idea to ask to see the place where the animals are kept prior to being purchased. If the facility seems questionable or if you’re denied access outright, she suggests that you walk away and get your dog elsewhere. To hear more from Heinz about her situation and the canine brucellosis issue, listen to today and tomorrow’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County programs on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.