Mesilla Animal Services Center Under Fire After Distemper Case

By ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Veronique Masterson

LAS CRUCES– The Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley is in the hot seat after a spike in Distemper cases.

A local family told ABC-7they are heartbroken after the puppy they adopted at the agency had to be euthanized.

“I thoughtI was going to walk out of the vet with a cast on the dog’s leg,” said Julienne Hadfield, who adopted “Clancy” for her son. “Then,they said the Distemper had gone to his nervous system and it was going to get worse. He needed to be put down.”

The puppy was a Christmas gift for Hadflied’s 10-year-old son Sandy and was considered a member of the family.

The agency’s director, Dr. Beth Vesco-Mock, told ABC-7 she is aware of the problem and the proper steps have been taken to solve it.

“I explain to [adoptive families] there is just no way I can test for the disease because it’s notfinancially feasible to test all of these animals,” said Vesco-Mock.”We need to work together as a team to try to slow this problem down.”

Of the more than 1200 dogs adopted since October, only 16 have tested positive for the virus, said the doctor. Vesco-Mock said animals are vaccinated for Distemper when they arrive at the center, butthere’s no guarantee theywill leave virus free.

That’s stated in a contract adoptive families have tosign and Vesco-Mocksaid the Hadfield’s signed the notice.