Adoptions up during COVID-19 pandemic
RENFREW — The COVID-19 pandemic has cleared out the dog and cat cages at the Butler County Humane Society, at least for now.
But nature is already finding a way to restock the cat cages with kittens.
“Shorty after COVID, we had a tremendous increase in dog and cat adoptions, and a big increase in dog and cat fostering,” said Jennifer DiCuccio, the society's executive director.
“We had many people signing up to foster animals, and we knew that was because a lot of people were home all day,” she said.
At the same time, the number of stray animals being brought to the society's shelter, at 1015 Evans City Road, decreased because, she said, people were keeping better track of their pets during the lockdown.
And later, many of those fostering animals decided to adopt them.
“Fostering is better because it is less stress for dogs than in a shelter. Anytime we get a chance to foster a dog, whether it is for three days, three weeks or three months, we take it,” DiCuccio said.
Those two factors dropped the animal population at the humane society shelter. Earlier this month, the shelter only had five dogs and a depleted cat population.
The increased fostering and adoptions took place in the midst of quarantine restrictions.
[naviga:h3]Pandemic precautions [/naviga:h3]
Initially, the shelter could only be manned by staff members as volunteers had to stay home to maintain social-distancing protocols.
People had to schedule appointments to meet with a potential pet adoptee.
Dog visits took place outside the shelter, while a strict sanitization procedure was in place for cat visits. Social-distancing rules were followed for all visits.
Potential pet owners or fosterers could see pictures of the animal online and download adoption applications from the humane society website.
Visits to see potential adoptee animals are still by appointment only, DiCuccio said, but the shelter has scheduled drop-in visiting hours of 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
[naviga:h3]Kitten boom[/naviga:h3]
And now, with the lockdown conditions being eased, strays are beginning to arrive in increasing numbers. This time of year also brings the usual boom in kitten births.
“We've had 100 kittens come in over the last month,” DiCuccio said. “We are in the throes of kitten season right now.”
She said people are starting to go back to work, children are home from school and playing with pets outside, which leads to an increase of animals escaping from their owners and becoming strays.
“We've also had an increased number of calls from people wanting to surrender their pets,” DiCuccio said.
[naviga:h3]Help available [/naviga:h3]
Whether they bought or adopted a dog during the COVID-19 lockdown, some people are finding an animal has become too much work or is too expensive to feed or has a medical issue that will cost a lot of money to correct.
The humane society's pet food pantry, Full Bowls Full Hearts that provides pet owners with free food, is still running.
“The rough estimate of how much food we have handed out is that we've given out 7,000 pounds of food since the beginning of COVID,” she said.
Those interested can call between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to fill out a questionnaire about their pet food needs.
With the easing of pandemic restrictions, the humane society is also scheduling a few events.
The society has scheduled a rabies and microchip clinic July 18 at the Adams Township Building, 690 Valencia Road.
Those interested in adopting or fostering a pet, donating to the shelter, or dog or cat owners in need of help feeding their animal, should contact the shelter at 724-789-1150.
