An animal rescue centre in New Romney has been quarantined until April after an outbreak of canine distemper.

The Last Chance Animal Rescue announced its temporary closure after one of its newest dogs, which had been brought to the UK by a member of the public, was diagnosed with the virus.

It is believed that the cross-breed dog was brought over from Romania, before landing in the care of Last Chance.

Avis Hakes, trustee of Last Chance, said: “A member of the public called in December, this dog was ear-marked for someone else but it fell through so they rang us.

“The dog was healthy and friendly, there was no reason to suspect anything was wrong. It had all of its records, the passport, health certificate and had been in holding when it was first brought over.”

She continued: “After a week we started noticing symptoms and believed it was kennel cough but then the dog started getting worse.

“As soon as the vets diagnosed distemper we enforced an incubating period of three months.

“The virus is highly contagious but it’s not seen very much. It’s an illness that can go up and down - the dog is doing well, but it’s really nice and we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Last Chance say they are now doing everything they can to ensure that the dog, as well as all the other animals in their care, are healthy and being treated.

This means that for three months the New Romney centre will not be accepting dogs or arranging adoption of dogs and it has also closed its cattery.

The centre have also made the decision not to accept any more dogs from abroad.

“We are devastated, it’s completely out of our control as we didn’t make the arrangements and we didn’t bring the dog into the country,” said Ms Hakes “We house over 700 dogs a year and all of them are happy and healthy so it is worrying for us.

“We rely on these pet passports when accepting dogs from other countries but we feel very let down. Although it is lovely to help dogs from abroad, we won’t be doing it again.

“All of the dogs are now in quarantine. It’s really sad because some are ready to go to their new homes but we have to err on the side of caution. It’s not perfect but at least the owners will be confident that their pets are healthy.

“We’re doing everything to ensure the other dogs are healthy and happy.”

The Edenbridge branch has not been affected in any way and remains open as normal.

The Romney Marsh centre was opened two years ago by comedian and actor Ronnie Corbett and his wife Anne, who brought their cairn terrier Bobby with them to cut the ribbon.

Canine distemper is a contagious and serious viral illness which is spread through the air and by direct or indirect contact.

It begins by attacking the dog’s tonsils and lymph nodes with the main symptoms being a high fever, reddened eyes and a watery discharge from the nose and eyes.

The dog will become lethargic, tired and stop eating, it may also suffer from persistent coughing, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

As the disease worsens, the virus attacks the other systems of the dog’s body. The brain and spinal cord are affected and the dog may start having fits, seizures, paralysis, and attacks of hysteria.