Forever Home: Despite pandemic, pet adoptions rise
Although everyone was encouraged to stay home throughout the coronavirus pandemic, many pets continued to move into and out of homes over the past year.
Organizations such as the Butler County Humane Society and the Butler County Community Cat Network take in animals in need of homes and prepare them to be adopted, in hopes of finding their forever homes.
The coronavirus pandemic has increased the number of pets adopted through the Butler County Humane Society.
Fran Marzullo, volunteer coordinator at the humane society, said the increase in adoptions was somewhat of a surprise, but an overall positive for the shelter.
“We had more adoptions really because of more people being at home,” Marzullo said. “I think that contributed: people being at home with them more.”
The Community Cat Network operates a little differently than the humane society, and not only because it's strictly for felines.
The organization doesn't have its own shelter. Instead, its volunteers will take in cats when necessary. The cats will be released back into the wild, given to an animal shelter or adopted directly from the foster homes. Each scenario only happens once a cat is fully vetted.
Dusty Velesig, foster coordinator of the Butler Community cat network, said most of the cats are taken in and adopted through online communication.
“People will message us and say, 'We have six cats in our backyard. Can someone help us trap them?'” she said. “Then we put all our adoptable cats up on Petfinder. But if someone contacts us either through Facebook message or our website, we will send an adoption application.”
The humane society's website lists multiple breeds of 16 dogs and 27 cats available for adoption.
To adopt a pet at the humane society, an applicant must provide information, such as how many other people live in their home, if they have other animals at home and how they will house and treat the pet.
Applicants must also provide two personal references and may need to schedule a home visit to adopt certain breeds.
The center had to change some operating policies to be COVID-19-safe throughout 2020 and into 2021, one of them being scheduled adoption appointments.
Besides these changes, the center maintained a good routine, Marzullo said. She also said the center has not gotten an influx of pet returns since coronavirus restrictions have been eased.
Last June, the Eagle reported that the center saw a significant rise in adoptions. The center also started a pet food pantry to help people continue to provide food for their pets.
Adopting a cat directly from the Community Cat Network also requires an applicant to fill out a questionnaire and provide personal and vet references. Its website lists five cats that are up for adoption.
Velesig said she did some virtual home visits to adopt cats directly from foster homes.
“We want to take the time to really look into our fosterers,” Velesig said. “We want to make sure these cats go to their forever homes.”
The Butler County Humane Society continues to be open for adoptions, by appointment only, Wednesday through Sunday. Visit its website at butlercountyhs.org.
To contact the Community Cat Network for adoptions or cat trapping, visit its website at www.communitycatnetwork.com or visit its Facebook page.
