{"id":2457130,"date":"2020-04-13T22:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T04:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/virus-concerns-could-claim-pitkin-county-leashless-dogs\/"},"modified":"2020-04-13T22:56:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T04:56:00","slug":"virus-concerns-could-claim-pitkin-county-leashless-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/virus-concerns-could-claim-pitkin-county-leashless-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Virus concerns could claim Pitkin County leashless dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/virusdogs-atd-041420-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/virusdogs-atd-041420-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/virusdogs-atd-041420-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/virusdogs-atd-041420-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/virusdogs-atd-041420-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/virusdogs-atd-041420-2048x1363.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>A woman walks her dog with her mouth and nose covered on Smuggler Mountain Road in Aspen on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/><em>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Fears that dogs might somehow be involved in the transmission of COVID-19 will prompt Pitkin County commissioners to consider revoking off-leash rules on three popular Aspen-area trails Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The emergency ordinance, which would prohibit off-leash dogs on Smuggler Mountain, the Hunter Creek Cutoff Trail and a portion of the Jaffee River Trail in Woody Creek starting immediately, came about as the result of a discussion last week by county board members, Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury said Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMy concern came from human-to-human connection (as the result) of misbehaving dogs,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was the reason for my bringing the question to the board.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">However, one line in the proposed ordinance distributed to commissioners and the public prior to Tuesday\u2019s meeting included misleading information, according to both a local veterinarian and Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row at-donation at-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/AT-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/at-banner-paypal.jpg)\" class=\"col-xl-8 p-3 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/donate\/?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=donation&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=mid-article\">Donate<\/a><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201c\u2026 (A) recent report indicates that animals, including dogs, may be able to pass the COVID-19 virus along,\u201d the proposed ordinance read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Nearly all the advice so far \u2014 from the <a id=\"N0x21b5530N0x21bd9c0:N0x21b5530N0x2395310\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/advice-for-public\/myth-busters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Health Organization<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> to the Centers for Disease Control to the American Veterinary Medical Association \u2014 says dogs, cats and other pets have not shown the ability to pass COVID-19 to humans or vice versa. Dr. Liz Kremzier of Aspen Animal Hospital confirmed that advice Monday, saying thousands of pets have been tested and none have been confirmed to have the virus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The one positive COVID-19 animal test has come from a <a id=\"N0x21b5530N0x21bda20:N0x21b5530N0x2395430\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/animals\/2020\/04\/tiger-coronavirus-covid19-positive-test-bronx-zoo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malyan tiger named Nadia at the Bronx Zoo<\/a><i class=\"fas fa-external-link-alt\"><\/i> in New York City, who tested positive last week after showing symptoms of the disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">McNicholas Kury said that was likely the prompt for the line in the proposed emergency ordinance because the tiger came up in the board\u2019s discussion last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Peacock said the language for the ordinance came out of the county attorney\u2019s office and likely will be amended before the board votes on it Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think they were referencing the tiger,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really not something to have public policy based on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A message left Monday for Pitkin County Attorney John Ely seeking comment was not returned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The main reason for the ordinance appeared to be fears that human-to-human contact could occur as the result of unleashed dogs that become entangled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201c(Possible) human-to-human interaction is more important (to consider),\u201d McNicholas Kury said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kremzier pointed out that knowledge of COVID-19 remains fluid and that animal-to-human transmission, or vice versa, has not been completely ruled out. For that reason, she said she and her colleagues in Aspen recommend that people with COVID-19 be cautious around pets and limit contact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cBut right now, there\u2019s no evidence that dogs or cats can become sick (with COVID-19) or that they can (transmit) the disease to people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Kremzier said she\u2019s also heard concerns that someone with coronavirus might cough on their dog\u2019s fur or collar or leash, which then could provide a transmission vehicle if the dog jumps up on someone on the trail. Such a scenario is unlikely, she said, because virus particles would likely be dispersed outside by other forces like wind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIn my opinion \u2026 that\u2019s low risk,\u201d Kremzier said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t really know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">She and her colleagues have seen no pets locally with COVID-19-like symptoms, and that active surveillance of pets worldwide has led to thousands of tests and no positive results, with the exception of the tiger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cMy concern is humans having to interact when there\u2019s dog altercations,\u201d Kremzier said. \u201cIf someone else\u2019s dog runs up to you at this point \u2026 is not a concern.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Commissioner Patti Clapper said commissioners have received a few reports from people on Smuggler and the Rio Grande Trail concerned about dogs jumping up on people. Like her colleagues, she said she, too, is concerned more about humans interacting because of dog issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The board is scheduled to discuss the issue Tuesday at 2 p.m. The meeting can be viewed live from the commissioners home page at pitkincounty.com or on Grassroots TV.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jauslander@aspentimes.com\">jauslander@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/virus-concerns-could-claim-pitkin-county-leashless-dogs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A woman walks her dog with her mouth and nose covered on Smuggler Mountain Road in Aspen on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Fears that dogs might somehow be involved in the transmission of COVID-19 will prompt Pitkin County commissioners to consider revoking off-leash rules on three popular Aspen-area [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2457130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 04:15:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2457130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2457130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2457130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2457130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2457130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}