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Fox CT Investigates: Did Waterbury pound adopt-out sick animals?

A parvo-virus outbreak has shut down the Waterbury dog pound as the state works to clean up the kennels. But before it closed, some say the city continued to ad...
waterbury pound dog

A parvo-virus outbreak has shut down the Waterbury dog pound as the state works to clean up the kennels.

But before it closed, some say the city continued to adopt-out sick dogs. Monroe mother Lisa Pinto adopted 4-pound chihuahua from the pound in February. Within four days the dog died- infected with the deadly k-9 disease “parvo”.

She says the pound had assured her the dog was healthy and now she questions the facility’s policy. The state has since swooped in and closed the facility while its cleaned and investigated.  Pinto says she hasn’t seen proof of whether the dog was tested for the disease.

“We’re talking fatal illnesses that are very expensive to treat, but a test is very inexpensive to do,” said Pinto.

Pound employees wouldn’t talk to FOX CT directly, but Deputy Chief Fred Spagnolo spoke on their behalf.

“In Lisa’s case, it’s very unfortunate, there certainly was a little bit of a lapse of time in communication with her- that’s very regretful. However the outcome wouldn’t have changed for that dog,” said Spagnolo.

Pinto says she spent more than one-thousand dollars on vet bills before the dog died.

She’s calling for changes at the pound – hoping to save other families from the heart-ache.

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