Four puppies dead, seven more struggling to survive after exposure to Parvovirus: Guelph Humane Society

A dog was photographed on Oct. 4, 2025 as the Guelph Humane Society is trying to save the lives of seven dogs exposed to canine parvovirus. (Courtesy: Guelph Humane Society)

The Guelph Humane Society is fighting to save the lives of seven dogs who have been exposed to a potentially deadly virus.

Late Friday evening, someone came to the Humane Society and surrendered nine puppies who were visibly in distress.

“Four of them were deceased upon arrival,” Jane Dawkins, communications director for the Guelph Humane Society, said on Tuesday. The puppies were rushed to a veterinarian who confirmed four dogs had died. The other five went into immediate intensive care.

The Humane Society believes the dogs are about eight-weeks old and may be a Doodle-mix from the same litter.

The next morning, the organization got another call.

“The same individual brought in two more dogs that were ten-months-old,” Dawkins said. “Those went to a different clinic just to keep them isolated as we weren’t sure that they came from the same place.”

Dawkins said it was not clear how the person got the animals, but that person knew the dogs were in distress and reached out to the Humane Society for help.

“Puppies receive several rounds [of vaccines] and the disease that they had was confirmed by the veterinarian as parvovirus which can be quite deadly for puppies and unvaccinated dogs,” Dawkins explained.

Canine parvovirus, which is frequently abbreviated as ‘parvo,’ is highly contagious and affects the gastrointestinal tract and immune system of unvaccinated puppies and adult dogs.

Symptoms can include vomiting and diarrhea. The diarrhea often has a strong smell and may contain mucus or blood.

Some dogs will show a lack of appetite, listlessness, depression and fever.

It can be fatal with animals typically dying from dehydration or shock.

According to the Veterinary Centres of America, the virus spreads through the feces of infected dogs. Dogs can become infected after ingesting the virus and direct contact with an infected dog is not necessary for transmission. It can be spread through objects, clothing, fur and skin.

“We’ve talked to our veterinary partners to see if they’re seeing any increase in parvo and we’ve also reached out to other Humane Societies – they’re not seeing it, so there’s no indication this is an outbreak and it seems to be very specific to this group of puppies,” Dawkins said.

Dogs can recover from the virus if they receive supportive care.

The puppies surrendered to the Humane Society are receiving IV fluids, some puppies have been given a feeding tube and they are all being carefully monitored.

The Guelph Humane Society said even if the puppies are considered clear of the life-threatening stage of the illness, they will still need weeks of care and isolation procedures.

A fundraiser has been set up to help pay for the cost of their treatment. Its not clear how much money will need to be raised to cover the cost of their veterinary bills, but any excess money will be used to help other animals in need.

For now, the puppies remain with the Humane Society’s veterinary partner as they must remain isolated from other dogs.

As of Tuesday afternoon, four of the puppies are showing signs of improvement and may be moved into foster care soon. The other three are still receiving critical care.

Once the dogs are moved into foster care, they’ll remain isolated for a minimum of 10 to 14 days. The Humane Society hopes they will eventually be adopted by loving families.

The Humane Society also stressed the importance of vaccinating puppies and dogs to protect them from the potentially deadly consequences of a parvo infection.

“Parvo is covered under our core vaccines,” Samantha Westphal, animal care manager with the Guelph Humane Society, explained. “It’s very important that puppies receive the right amount of vaccine in the right booster intervals.”