Sevier County Animal Shelter Closed due to Parvovirus

Sevier Co, TN (WOKI ) – The Sevier County Animal Shelter will be closed until at least Wednesday (11/5/25) due to parvovirus exposure.

According to the shelter, it received a litter of eight-month-old stray dogs on Monday (10/27/25) that appeared healthy at intake but started showing signs of illness Friday evening.

Officials say the dogs are doing fine now and they are working on getting them sent to a foster home for quarantine.

The shelter also explained that parvovirus is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads through direct contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids. Additionally, it can be transmitted through contaminated objects and surfaces and cannot be killed by simply cleaners.

Blood samples from every canine in their building will be sent to the University of Tennessee Vet school. Once they have the results, any dog/puppy with a low immune system will be put into quarantine. In the meantime, they will be deep cleaning the entire shelter top to bottom with parvo-killing shelter cleaners.

Anyone needing to schedule an intake appointment is asked to text or call 865-313-5449.

Sevier County Animal Shelter post:

ATTENTION: We are so sorry for the inconvenience but we will be closed through Wednesday at the earliest due to parvovirus exposure.

As the municipal shelter who has been set up to serve Sevier County and the surrounding cities, being completely honest and transparent with our community is our top priority. We also take the safety of our community and its animals very seriously.

With that being said, we unfortunately need to share with you that we received a litter of 8 month old stray dogs on Monday. At intake they appeared healthy and have not had any signs of illness until yesterday evening. Staff noticed that two of them were displaying lethargy, lack of appetite, and diarrhea. We immediately tested them for the parvovirus. It is our policy to test for this virus immediately if we see any small sign that a dog or puppy is not feeling well. Our entire team is extremely hypervigilant when it comes to watching for any symptoms of illness, especially when it comes to young dogs. Parvovirus can incubate within an animal for up to 10 days before they show any signs of illness. Sadly, these two canines have tested positive and potentially exposed the other canines here. They are doing OK right now and we are working on getting them sent to a foster home for quarantine.

So what is parvo? In a nutshell, it is a highly contagious viral infection that affects canines. Parvovirus spreads through direct contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids. It can also be transmitted through contaminated objects and surfaces. It is a very hardy virus- the germs cannot be killed by simple cleaners. Most shelters, vet clinics, and boarding facilities(including us) utilize special sanitizers that are made to kill the virus in the environment. Remember to always have your pets vaccinated, especially if they are young and/or visit a lot of high traffic dog areas.

Due to the positive result and possible exposure, we are pulling blood samples from every canine in the building to send to The University of Tennessee vet school. UT will do what is called a titer test on each blood sample to determine the canines’ immune system levels. This will tell us whether each dog is at risk for catching the parvovirus. Once we have the results, any dog/puppy with a low immune system will be put into quarantine. In the meantime, we will be deep cleaning the entire shelter top to bottom with parvo killing shelter cleaners (which we also use every day when we clean.)

If you need to schedule an intake appointment, please text or call 865-313-5449 and we will make an individual plan. If you already have an appointment scheduled, we will be reaching out to you shortly.

If you have a canine on hold for adoption, we will be reaching out to you shortly

If you are interested in possibly adopting a cat or kitten, we have several available at Petsmart, Co-op, and Black Cat Lounge. If there’s one here at the shelter you’re interested in please text/call and we will make an appointment for you to come down. 865-210-6827

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding while we work through this challenge. We always take these things extremely seriously and probably go overboard, but better safe than sorry! We will update as soon as we have news. Please keep us and the furbabies in your thoughts.