BRICK — A quarantine was lifted at an Ocean County store on Friday but it may not be selling puppies very much longer.

The Township Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to limit the sale of cats or dogs to rescues onlyaccording to Brick Shorebeat.

The store operated by the Breeders Association of America on Route 70 was ordered by the Ocean County Department of Health to not sell any of its 44 dogs until April 28 after a blood test confirmed a dog they had sold had died from the deadly virus parvo.

"The Breeders Association puppy store fulfilled all the requirements of the quarantine order and today that notice of quarantine was lifted by the Health Department (Friday) morning. No new cases of parvo were reported by the breeders veterinarian of record," Health Department spokesman Brian Lippai told New Jersey 101.5.

A message left for the puppy store was not returned Friday morning returned.

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The parvo virus, according to Brick Town Veterinary Hospital co-chief of staff Adam Christman, is a highly infectious disease that appears in dogs in two different forms.

“The more common form is known for diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss and loss of appetite. The less common one is a heart or cardiac form that affects heart muscles in very young puppies that can also lead to death, too,” Christiman explained.

“Proper vaccination protocol” has helped reduce cases in recent years, he said.

Elsewhere in the state, the Burlington County Health Department closed a Springfield store after parvo was discovered in January.

The township banned new puppy stores from opening after 2012, but the new ordinance prohibits existing stores from selling animals produced by breeders.

The legislation was backed by animal advocates who criticize some pet stores for patronizing unscrupulous breeders or "puppy mills," which tend to produce sickly animals in sometimes inhumane conditions.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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