THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020568
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MAPLE LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Two Labrador retriever puppies at the Currituck Animal Shelter did not die of a worm medication overdose, a Currituck County veterinarian said Thursday afternoon.
``We went over the worming materials and what was used, and it is very unlikely that the medication caused the demise of these animals,'' said Dr. Ronald Cronogue, who met with Currituck County staff and county humane society members but did not examine the animals.
County officials initially thought an overdose of worm medicine administered by the Currituck Humane Society had killed the dogs.
Even though the case remains a mystery, the lab puppies' deaths might save future worm-infested animals brought to the Maple pound.
Plans are being made to start a deworming program, paid by the humane society, for puppies brought to the shelter, officials said.
No such measure exists in a 1992 animal control ordinance and, until last month, no dogs were routinely wormed.
``I think it's a very good idea that dogs be dewormed at the shelter,'' Cronogue said.
Bill Neff, president of the local humane society, said Thursday his group will lobby Currituck commissioners to include the deworming program in the county ordinance.
But first the group will meet again with the five-member board on Monday to continue its quest for a heating system at the cinderblock shelter.
``The heating is the most important,'' Neff said. ``And I think we're going to get it.''
The commission and the society have clashed over the comfort of lost or abandoned animals at the shelter. Financial responsibility for warming and cooling the animal pens also has been an issue. by CNB