EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) — The Edmond Animal Shelter is officially opened again. The shelter closed back in June due to cases of the canine flu. All the dogs who were sick at that time, are healthy again and safe for adoption. Now, there are new changes to help prevent another closure.

“It took approximately 14 days to treat those animals. We did an additional seven days. It started out with only two or three dogs in one of our five adoption rooms, but then it eventually spread to two four dog rooms with approximately a dozen dogs that were contaminated,” said Kenny Stevenson, the Animal Shelter Services Supervisor.

Stevenson said the shelter has 11 full-time staff members who have specific cleaning protocols to follow.

“We started using Tyvek suits. We also new store using strong, stronger chemicals,” said Stevenson.

He said they didn’t lose any dogs from the flu and they haven’t had any confirmed cases since reopening.

“Right now, we have approximately we have about eight dogs per room. So we have four rooms. So we have approximately 25 for adoption,” said Stevenson.

To keep any potential new cases from coming, there’s a new way to adopt a pet. Families are no longer allowed to walk through the shelter and see all the dogs at once. 

“We have a book at the front desk that you can see what we have available for adoption. And once you make a decision and we will bring the animal up to you and we’ve got five adoption or visitation rooms and those are lined up with each adoption room,” said Stevenson.

Even though they’re open again for adoptions, Stevenson said it won’t be long before they reach max capacity at the shelter.

“As far as our facility, we can hold approximately 125 dogs. We can hold approximately 40 cats or so, we definitely want to make sure that the word gets out that we are available now,” said Stevenson.

Stevenson says the staff and volunteers also have assigned areas to clean throughout the day to avoid any new contamination.

To set up an appointment to go to the shelter and look at adopting an animal call (405) 216-7615 or go to their website.