AUSUITTUQ/GRISE FIORD
A High Arctic sled dog owner recently lost four members of his team to what he suspects was the canine parvovirus.

Four sled dogs owned by Grise Fiord resident Jeffrey Qaunaq died at the end of December and he suspects they caught the canine parvovirus. He would like to have a veterinarian visit his community at least once a year - photo courtesy of Jeffrey Qaunaq

Jeffrey Qaunaq of Grise Fiord has owned a dozen sled dogs for the past five years. In December, four of them began exhibiting symptoms of the highly contagious disease.

The dogs stopped eating, were vomiting and quickly became dehydrated - telltale signs of the virus.

Qaunaq turned to the Internet for help because he had never had sick dogs before and determined it was likely they'd been stricken with the parvovirus.

"They became sick at the end of December and died on me," he said.

"We had no options and had to literally watch them die. We didn't want to shoot them because sometimes the dogs recover from a disease, but these didn't."

The virus can be transmitted by any person, animal or object that comes into contact with an infected dog's feces.

"Highly resistant, the virus can live in the environment for months, and may survive on inanimate objects such as food bowls, shoes, clothes, carpet and floors," states the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Qaunaq said he quarantined his other dogs - Siberian and Eskimo huskies - at another location as soon as he found out how contagious the parvovirus was.

The sled dogs are mostly used for recreational purposes, he added.

"We have a big family and we like to go out with the dogs," he said.

"We need to have a certain amount of dogs because if we don't have enough, they can still pull but they have to work twice as hard."

Qaunaq's dogs were not vaccinated against the virus, which likely would have saved their lives.

Based on the symptoms described, the dogs were indeed likely killed by the parvovirus, said Nunavut's lone veterinarian, Leia Cunningham.

"Any unvaccinated dog is susceptible to the parvovirus," she said from Iqaluit, where she runs the territory's only veterinary clinic.

"The immunity increases with age. The best prevention against it is vaccination."

The older a dog is, the less susceptible it is to getting the disease, she added.

The prognosis is lower for puppies, since their immune systems are less developed.

Cunningham sells the vaccine, which protects dogs against both parvovirus and distemper, and ships it to other communities a few times a month.

She also sells a quick test to determine if a dog has the virus.

Certain breeds, notably Rottweilers and German shepherds, are more prone to catching the disease.

Without treatment, almost 70 per cent of parvovirus cases are fatal, Cunningham added.

Qaunaq said he'd like it if a veterinarian could visit his community at least once a year.

"I think the cost of sending one up here is probably the issue," he said.

Cunningham, who started her business just over two years ago, said she is anxious to travel to other communities around Nunavut.

"We started the company from the ground up so we are still working on that but we are looking to go to other communities in the future," she said.

"It probably won't be in the next four months though."

After a quick search, Qaunaq was able to find more sled dogs from someone in Pond Inlet.

He said the dogs had taken part in the Nunavut Quest race, so he was excited to have them join his team.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.