Like everyone else forced to improvise in the face of an unprecedented crisis, America's animal shelters are coming up with creative ways to stay 'open,' so they can continue pairing people and pets.
"We all recognize that animals are a source of comfort, love and stress reduction in a chaotic, unprecedented time," Speed says. "And I say that as I’m sitting with my dog on the couch."shelter leaders have decided to focus on pushing permanent adoptions and keep fosters as a fallback strategy, but it's now adoption by appointment only. Like many shelters, they're conducting virtual tours to re-create the in-person experience of connecting with a shelter dog or cat.
Whatever the reason, it's a boon to some of the 7.
"We have never navigated anything like COVID-19 – it's completely uncharted territory for shelters and rescues," Alboum says."Hurricanes and tornadoes … impact one area or region and we can move animals, fly them or drive them to shelters elsewhere to make room for incoming animals. We can’t for this because it’s a national disaster."
"We depend heavily on a transport program to move 5,000 dogs and cats into adoptive homes in Northern states, from ours and other Southern shelters," says Ginny Sims, director of Southern Pines Animal Shelter in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which began early to push adoptions and fosters to empty out Southern shelters as much as possible. ."It's incredibly challenging in the South, where we already have big overpopulations" of strays.
Growing numbers of animals will need temporary or permanent shelter as the summer puppy and kitten season is approaching. At the sprawling Houston SPCA on Tuesday, someone dumped a box of 6-week-old puppies in the parking lot outside the adoption center in 80-degree heat.
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