BRUNSWICK

Brunswick’s Coastal Humane Society’s shelter, which was under quarantine since Aug. 8, will be back in business by noon on Saturday.

The quarantine was initially in place for 28 days. Coastal Humane announced on Thursday that the State of Maine Animal Welfare Program had lifted the quarantine two weeks early.

Coastal’s shelter was under quarantine to treat a case of the ringworm fungal infection in five puppies transferred from an Alabama shelter.

“We credit the early reopening of the shelter to our proactive and attentive staff, and to best-practice infectious disease protocols,” said Shelter Veterinarian and Director of Shelter Operations Mandie Wehr in a press release. “Shelter staff diligently maintained 16 different quarantine zones so that no ringworm spores could spread throughout the Range Road facility. After two rounds of testing in each of these zones, all of which came back negative, each environment has been deemed clear of ringworm by the state. No other animals in the shelter but the original five have displayed any symptoms of the fungal infection.”

Meanwhile, Coastal Humane will continue to compete in an ASPCA challenge to place 822 animals in new homes this summer, with the hopes of winning a $100,000 grant.

Coastal Humane won the top spot nationally in its division for the month of July, earning a $5,000 prize. In June, it had won another $5,000 grant from the challenge.

“We will continue to place as many deserving animals as possible in the right, loving homes through the end of the challenge on Aug. 31,” said Wehr.

Coastal Humane spokesperson Jane Siviski, in a phone interview, said the cleanup process is underway at the Range Road shelter.

Coastal had been using two locations for stray cats and dogs brought in by animal control officers during the remaining days of the quarantine period.

Carway Kennels is a former dog kennel in North Yarmouth that Coastal Humane Society rehabbed for temporary use as an emergency shelter. It is on loan by the building’s owners, Florence Fordham and her son, Wayne. This facility is for abandoned and stray dogs brought in by animal control officers only.

It could not be used by members of the public for any reason during the quarantine.

Abandoned and stray cats brought in by animal control officers were taken to a temporary shelter that CHS established on the lower level of its administrative building at 190 Pleasant St. in Brunswick. Coastal Humane’s Pleasant Street building was not quarantined by the state.

According to Siviski, animals are now being transferred from those facilities back to Range Road.

The five puppies treated for ringworm had been kept in an isolated building while undergoing treatment.

“Our animals are healthy and ready to go, we just need some time to straighten everything out,” Siviski said. “We’re ready to resume business as usual.”

In an email to Wehr, director of the Maine’s Animal Welfare Program Liam Hughes wrote, “I look forward to sitting down with you and discussing your protocols and how we can share that knowledge with the other shelters in the state. They are very impressive and you are doing good work there.”

According to Siviski, Coastal Humane is gearing up for one of the biggest days of the year on Saturday. As the shelter prepares to reopen, some staff and volunteers will be in Freeport as part of the Paws for a Cause Fundraising Walk and 5K, which Coastal Humane hopes will raise $30,000 for food, veterinary care, shelter, exams and the more than 2,000 animals served every year.

Paws for a Cause is hosted by L.L. Bean’s Dog Days of August festival. The 5K starts at 8 a.m. at Memorial Park, a one-mile walk on Main Street begins at 10 a.m.

To register, go to coastalhumanesociety.org/paws.

Coastal Humane services the communities of Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Durham, Freeport, Harpswell, Phippsburg, Pownal, Topsham and Woolwich.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com