About 1,200 dogs euthanized after disease outbreak

OBERLIN, Kan. - December 15, 2010

Kansas Livestock Commissioner Bill Brown says the state started investigating a kennel near Oberlin in September after being contacted by Wyoming's state veterinarian.

Brown said Wednesday that the Kansas Animal Health Department quarantined the kennel twice after distemper was diagnosed there. The kennel's owner couldn't sell the quarantined dogs and eventually couldn't afford to pay for staff or upkeep of the kennels.

Brown says most of the dogs put down were adults. He says because of the circumstances, euthanizing the dogs was the only way to prevent the spread of the highly contagious disease.

Messages left at a phone number listed for the kennel were not returned.

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