The director of the Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Shelton said they went from having 37 cats to now just having 17. Some cats who survived are still recovering.
SHELTON, Wash. — A wild cat sanctuary in Mason County said more than half of their large cats have died due to an avian flu outbreak.
The Washington State Department of Health has confirmed that the avian flu has been detected at a wildlife advocacy center in Mason County and said:
“The situation is being investigated by WSDA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to determine the likely source of infection to the felines.”
“We’ve lost 20 cats due to this virus, or symptoms of this bird flu virus,” said Mark Mathews, the director of the Wild Felid Advocacy Center.
The Wild Felid Advocacy Center is a nonprofit wild cat sanctuary on Harstine Island. Mathews started the sanctuary 20 years ago and the animals are close to his heart. He said he never imagined something like this could happen.
“Every day, it’s just kind of you wake up and you think hopefully it’s a bad dream, but it’s not,” said Mathews.
At the end of November, the sanctuary had 37 cats, now down to 17.
Mathews said the first cat got sick around Thanksgiving and the state confirmed cases of the avian flu in some of their cats in early December.
Now, the center is closed and under quarantine, and only a select few people are allowed inside. They are required to wear PPE when near the cats.
Mathews said of the remaining cats, there is one in critical condition, four are recovering, and 12 have not had any symptoms.
The center is hoping for financial support from the community due to the costs of medical care for the cats and having to throw away thousands of pounds of meat as a safeguard. Mathews said in this past month, they have incurred around $20,000 to $30,000 in damages.
“I suspect we’ll probably be around $150,000 in damages before this is all over,” said Mathews.
The Washington State Veterinarian told KING 5 that in most cases, cats are infected through infected carcasses or meat products.
“Cats are highly susceptible to avian influenza viruses,” said Dr. Amber Itle, the Washington State Veterinarian.
She said that Avian Flu has been in Washington for nearly three years and they have seen mammals die from the virus. Some of the mammals they have seen infected include cats, raccoons and seals.
According to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, there have been 11 confirmed cases of avian flu in humans in the state, all of who were farm workers infected by poultry. None of those people had serious symptoms.
“What we’re seeing right now is there’s no evidence of mammal-to-mammal transmission, and there’s no evidence of mammal-to-human or human-to-human transmission,” said Dr. Itle.
The Wild Felid Advocacy Center is still closed to guests and plans to reopen in the spring. They have set up a donation link on their website.
For more information on the avian flu, click here.
