HOUSTON - Only a few months after receiving a donation of an air purification system from Goodman Manufacturing Co., the Humane Society of St. Lucie County, Fla., has seen a remarkable decrease in upper respiratory infections (URIs) in the shelter's cats and kittens and, for the first time, has been able to decrease the number of shelter animals that need to be euthanized due to these infections.

The donation came on the heels of one of Florida's worst hurricane seasons on record, which left hundreds of cats and kittens homeless and seeking refuge at the Humane Society facility. Due to overcrowding, the facility's air be-came polluted, promoting the rapid spread of URIs in the shelter.

"A decrease in the number of animals that need to be euthanized is almost unheard of in shelters with a rapidly spreading disease such as a feline URI," said Kim Dean, board president for the Humane Society of St. Lucie County. "The success of our animal shelter's new air purification system has prompted several other shelters in the area to investigate similar systems for their facilities."

Goodman's GHEPA600M mobile filtration unit contains a True HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) air cleaner, which captures 99.97 percent of harmful airborne pollutants 0.3 microns and larger. Goodman also gave the shelter a UVX Series commercial/residential ultraviolet air purifier, which can treat the entire air duct at one time, destroying up to 99.9 percent of the biological and chemical contaminants in the air stream, according to Dan Davis, product manager, indoor air quality equipment, for Goodman.

Publication date: 03/14/2005