The Springdale animal shelter opened Monday after being closed for two weeks because of an outbreak of distemper.
Shelter officials are now focused on getting the dogs housed there adopted. The shelter has a 50-dog capacity, but had 61 dogs Monday morning.
As a precaution, families with no other dogs or dogs older than 5 months and vaccinations will be allowed to adopt dogs from the shelter.
The distemper virus starts with wildlife, then spreads through dogs' respiratory systems. It will cause nasal discharge, fever, lethargy and ultimately seizures and death. Distemper hits puppies and other dogs without vaccinations.
Staff continually monitored dogs during the closure and sent many blood samples for testing. They also deep cleaned the shelter.
Cleaning, sanitizing and closure should have solved the issue, said Randolph Chick, the state veterinarian.