Houlton Humane Society set to reopen

  HOULTON, Maine — It has been more than four months since the Houlton Humane Society has been able to have one of its animals adopted into a loving home.
Quarantined due to an outbreak of ringworm, volunteers at the Callaghan Road shelter have worked diligently to cleanse the building of all signs of the ringworm fungus. On Saturday, July 17, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Houlton Humane Society will host its grand re-opening with a daylong celebration.
“All adoption fees will be waived,” said Cathy Davis, shelter spokesperson. “Pets are certified healthy, and we have some really beautiful animals needing new homes. Refreshments will be served and if you bring a bag of kitty litter with you, your name will be entered into a raffle for many great prizes.”
Tours of the newly renovated building will be offered throughout the day.
Back in February, the Houlton Humane Society first discovered it had been infected with a case of ringworm. At the time the outbreak was discovered, the shelter was housing 105 cats. Many of those felines had to be euthanized
“We can’t even guess which animal might have brought it in because ringworm carried on the fur of an outdoor cat could go undetected if there were no symptoms like open sores,” Davis said. “Once in the shelter, all a cat has to do is rub up against the door of the cage and a visitor could reach in to pet it, and then pet the cat in the next cage. Before you even know it, it’s in the entire building.”
Eliminating the ringworm spores has proven to be a laborious task, but one the shelter staff has done nonetheless.
“The only effective cleaning for ringworm is a 1-to-10 solution of bleach, which is way too toxic to use in the Shelter every single day,” Davis said. “It would burn the lungs of the animals and the staff to use that strong of a solution, it’s not a healthy situation for anybody.”
Shelter workers have essentially dismantled the Callaghan Road facility so that every aspect of the building could be cleaned. The cleaning process involved spraying walls and equipment with the caustic bleach solution; dipping animals and items in sulfur; unleashing spore bombs; hiring an outside firm to clean the inside of the air exchange system; repainting every wall and window casing; replacing all the door trim; taking down every light fixture and bleaching every light bulb.
“We have kept every stray that has come in and put them in foster to keep them from being exposed,” Davis said. “We have followed every piece of advice, read every word available on the Internet, and we have done everything we have been told in order to assure that this building is 100 percent free of ringworm spores.”
Davis added she hopes the general public will come out to support the shelter as it tries to get back on its feet.
“This is a new beginning and we invite you to join us, visit with us this Saturday,” she said. “Help us place all these animals in new homes. And thank you for your support and patience and most of all, thank you so much to all of you who have fostered these past months, for all the lives you have saved, and all your hard work, we really appreciate the help.”