When the stay at home orders took effect in Arizona on March 31, it left many animal shelters with hundreds of dogs, cats, and other small animals in their crates and cages without much certainty of where they could be going next.
However, many shelters around the Valley have triumphed to stay open to support the many animals and pet owners in need. Shelters that remain open have done so by implementing new cleaning procedures to ensure staff safety.
A shelter that has seen success in increased adoptions with new appointment regulations is Foothills Animal Rescue. While being a smaller rescue, they are still achieving their goals of getting animals adopted even though the state is socially distancing.
“Adoptions by appointment have been extremely successful,” said Foothills Animal Rescue Chief Engagement Officer Melissa Gable. “We are a small agency and on our last day of adoption appointments, nine animals found homes, which is a lot for us in one day.”
Foothills Animal Rescue was successful with appointment adoptions until they could no longer keep their doors open. On April 2, in coordination with Gov. Doug Ducey’s stay-at-home orders, the shelter was forced to stop appointment adoptions. Many of the animals were sent into foster care, but the need for volunteer help in the shelters is still necessary, according to Gable.
“The remaining animals are being cared for properly by our staff and volunteers and we did reduce the number of volunteers in order to cut down the number of people entering our shelter,” Gable said.
While many of the smaller, privately-owned shelters like Foothills Animal Rescue had the decision of whether or not to remain open, the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control shelter is considered an essential service and must be there to serve the community.
The county shelter remains open but has now consolidated all its operations into its Phoenix location, taking the safety of their animals, adopters and staff as a top priority.
“We have provided for social distancing in the shelter, limited the number of people in our shelter at one time, and offered resources for individuals looking for help for pets to attempt to keep pets in their homes,” Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Director Mary Martin said.
By executing new guidelines, the county shelter has been able to stay functional, Martin said. The ability to take stray animals in, getting them the care necessary, and getting them adopted into new, safe homes are still completely capable even during the times of COVID-19.
According to Martin, people who want to adopt an animal now have to make an appointment online or by phone and the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control shelter has increased its technological capabilities to make this possible and to make sure animals can still be adopted.
“Using technology, we are able to safely continue offering animals for adoption and foster,” Martin said.
One of their newest features is the “Adoptable Pets” web page, which gives a description of the animal up for adoption as well as showcasing a picture. This allows people wanting to adopt to get familiar with pets before they arrive all while making the adoption process more efficient and safer.
Upgrading the website with features like the adoptable pets page has allowed the county shelter to reach several individuals who may be interested in adopting a pet during this time. With many people now having more free time than they previously had, Martin said they are now reaching out online to see if they can adopt an animal to add into the family.
“It may very well be a good time to adopt a pet for people working from home, affording the pet and family time to bond and work through the settling in challenges sometimes seen with a newly adopted pet,” Martin said. “It may be a terrible time for someone who has lost his or her job and has food and or housing insecurity.”
Freshman sports journalist at Arizona State University Olivia Wells recently adopted a shelter animal.
“My family decided to adopt because we wanted our other dog to have some new company and we all could use some positive energy around the house,” Wells said.
A new animal in the home is something that has given the Wells family a glimmer of light in the times of coronavirus lockdown. While this is a great idea to uplift a family’s spirit, it has not been as easy as expected to care for a new pet at this time.
“The concern I have is that it’s more difficult to get food and toys, but ordering things online has been a major help,” Wells said.
Due to the stay-at-home orders, Phoenix-area grocery stores have begun to see a depletion of pet food and other pet-related items from the shelves, according to Wells. Not only is this making things difficult for new pet owners, but also for the shelters who rely on donations to buy food.
The Maricopa County Animal Care and Control shelter has made their donation guidelines stricter, citing that only new items can be donated to the shelter. With the lack of new items in stores, there is now a decrease in donated items coming into the shelters, including food.
Downtown Phoenix resident Katie Cole recently had first-hand experience trying to surrender a dog to local shelters. She had stumbled upon a lost dog she temporarily named Buddy and
attempted to find his owner through online resources but to no avail. She also attempted to find a new owner for Buddy by her own means but realizes how difficult bringing in a new pet at this time can be.
“We were aware most shelters are facing being overrun with strays,” Cole said. “I also knew no one would be jumping at the chance to spend the money it would take to get him ready for a home.”
After doing some time-consuming research, Cole found a local shelter that was still open and accepting lost animals.
Cole and Buddy ended up at the Arizona Small Dog Rescue. They wait a week for a surrendered dog to be claimed by an owner before fixing the dog, providing their shots, and also micro- chipping.
“The best part is that it is non-profit, non-kill,” Cole said. “I knew Buddy wouldn’t have a hard time getting adopted, but the guarantee that he would not be euthanized was very reassuring.”
The rescue is one of many in the Valley that are maintaining the same amount of adoptions and intakes as normal as COVID-19 continues to spread.
Operations manager for Arizona Small Dog Rescue Rachael Richard says that the rescue has locked its doors from public access and are now operating by appointments only.
According to Richard, they are only scheduling one surrender appointment and one adoption (meet and greet) appointment per hour to allow for time to thoroughly sanitize the shelter. A separate entrance for meet and greets is being used and workers walk them directly into their meet and greet room where the dog is brought in and completion of paperwork is being done.
Owner surrenders are brought in through the lobby and that is where they complete the entire process. There is an employee only entrance that they use for foster appointments, according to the rescue.
With the shelters open and running adoptions, this creates a need for veterinary offices to remain open as well such as Baseline Animal Clinic.
Baseline Animal Clinic is a Phoenix area vet office that has decided to remain in business and see new clients while maintaining the social distancing guidelines. Lucy Womack is a vet technician at the clinic, and she has seen an increase of business in the recent weeks.
“We have had a huge increase in new clients and new pets,” Womack said. “There has been a huge increase of business lately too for puppies.”
While many Valley animal shelters provide for shots and fixing, this is not the case for animals purchased from breeders or animals needing secondary care after being adopted from a shelter, she said.
“I would recommend trying to see your usual vet and take as many records that the shelter has on the pet,” Womack said. “Then go for a checkup and vaccines if they are not vaccinated.”
Until the stay-at-home orders are lifted, these shelters will remain in business in this capacity but continue to be on the front line for the animals and pet lovers of the Phoenix area.
