P.A.W.S. Tinley Park Halts Dog Adoptions After Pneumonia Deaths

TINLEY PARK, IL — P.A.W.S. Tinley Park has stopped taking in dogs and adopting them out as pets after "at least eight" puppies died from pneumonia, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The adoption agency closed last week and will be closed at least a week more to disinfect the facility and avoid spreading the bacteria, officials said. A message on the group's website added that the agency would post an update when dog adoptions were open again. They are still open for cat adoptions.

According to the Tribune, a 7-week-old litter of terrier-mix puppies died from the upper respiratory disease and likely spread mycoplasma pneumonia to other dogs at the shelter. It is a common bacteria found in dogs.

John Coyne, a veterinarian at Midwest Animal Hospital in Orland Park, has been treating the sick animals. He told the Tribune that there is no vaccine against this type of pneumonia. Symptoms include fever, cough, lethargy and vomiting.

The pneumonia outbreak isn't the first time an illness has halted adoptions at an area shelter. In 2017, a canine flu outbreak forced The Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago to suspend dog adoptions.

In 2015, a canine flu outbreak also killed a dog at P.A.W.S. Tinley Park and sicked about 30 other pets. More than half a dozen dogs in the Chicago area also succumbed to the illness.