A KENNELS in Kingskerswell has confirmed an outbreak of potentially-fatal canine parvovirus among stray dogs.

It is understood a number of dogs have already died at Foredowne Kennels from the highly contagious disease which causes severe, often fatal, gastrointestinal illness in dogs.

However, the outbreak at the kennels, which is popular for boarding, is contained to the block which is home to stray dogs.

The block is currently in lockdown and the kennels is not accepting any more stray dogs.

The boarding block is separate and there is no interaction between dogs in the boarding side and strays.

A spokesman said: ‘We would like to reassure everyone that the cases of Parvovirus here are fully contained to the stray block which is currently in lockdown, and the dogs housed there are being monitored hourly.

‘We are not accepting any new strays.

‘We have increased our already rigorous deep cleaning and disinfecting protocols, and we have dedicated staff working in the stray block who are not allowed to be in any other block on site.

‘We must stress that our boarding block is totally separate from the stray block and there is no interaction between the two.

'We are working very closely with, and are following the advice of, our vets who have confirmed that we are doing everything correctly to contain the virus.

‘We have advised all our current and imminent boarding customers of the situation, and we would like to thank them all for being so incredibly supportive.’

Parvo is a persistent virus which is always present in the wider community, countryside and popular dog walking routes.

Any boarding dogs at the kennels must be fully vaccinated which gives them protection against contracting illnesses such as parvovirus.

The spokesman added: ‘We would like to publicly thank all our staff for their hard work and help over what is an extremely distressing time for us all.’