BANGOR – Dogs at the Bangor Mall’s Get-A-Pet store are no longer under quarantine.

After seeing several cases of kennel cough in dogs that were bought at Get-A-Pet, Dr. James Meiczinger of the Penobscot Valley Veterinary Hospital wrote a letter to the state, suggesting that dogs at the store be placed under quarantine until the problem could be remedied.

Late Tuesday an agreement was made between the Maine Department of Agriculture’s humane agent, Meiczinger, and Get-A-Pet’s veterinarian Dr. Arthur Cutter and the quarantine was lifted.

“Get-A-Pet is back in business,” Norma Worley, program director for Maine’s Animal Welfare Department, said Wednesday.

Kennel cough, much like the common cold or flu is an airborne disease. The store was not in any trouble because this was purely a health issue.

Under quarantine, the dogs had to remain in their cages and couldn’t leave the store. No additional dogs could be brought into the facility either.

The dogs were under quarantine for eight days and during that time were put on preventative medications, Get-A-Pet President Arvid Dahlbloom said Wednesday. The dog’s cages are cleaned and disinfected daily, and Dahlbloom said store employees would continue to keep a close eye on the puppies.

He noted that customers who had purchased dogs were upset that they couldn’t take them home sooner. Some people had traveled more than an hour to try to pick up their pets. To assist customers in getting their animals as soon as possible, some store employees delivered dogs to their new homes on Wednesday.

“As far as sales go, a good part of our business is in the puppies, so financially it really hurt us,” Dahlbloom said. He doesn’t plan to bring any new dogs into the store until next week and plans to keep an extra close eye on the puppies already there to try to prevent any problems.