Our Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program has been inundated with requests from veterinarians and animal shelters looking for reliable information for their humane organizations and communities. Although the COVID-19 situation continues to rapidly evolve, there are good sources for policies, protocols, and practices that provide for greater human safety without sacrificing humane care. Many industry sites provide reliable and sound information for your community’s companion animal health professionals. In this challenging time, we recommend:
- Consulting a reliable industry resource for general information on COVID-19 for animal shelters. We really like this one:
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- Animal Sheltering: https://www.animalsheltering.org/COVID19 – This site provides facts about the virus and transmission, up to date stats, and a link for online foster/volunteer training from AAWA.
- Shelters performing animal control duties should prioritize only essential ACO functions:
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- National Animal Control Association: https://www.nacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/NACA-statement-re-Covid-19.pdf – Animal control functions need to be focused on only the most essential tasks. They should suspend all low priority/non-emergency activities (non-aggressive stray animal pickup, barking, leash law, nuisance, community cat, and conflict mitigation complaints), reduce shelter intake (emergency animals only, return to owner vs. impound, owners keep ill pets at home), and wear PPE in homes where someone has symptoms. A protocol for intake for ACOs is included.
- Reducing the intake of cats into the shelter through all humane means possible:
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- National Animal Control Association(NACA): https://www.nacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Cat-Intake-Protocols-Statement.pdf – ACOs should suspend intake of healthy/stray cats except TNR (if surgery is available); cease trapping of healthy community cats; continue intake for sick, injured, and cats in danger; and hoarding situations should be evaluated on a case by case basis.
- American Pets Alive!: https://sites.google.com/americanpetsalive.org/ampa-covid19/covid-19-protocols/intake-prevention-field-services/suspension-of-feline-intake – Shelters should cease all healthy cat intake including trapping of stray/community cats. Intake should only occur in as an emergency measure– injury/illness/neglect/abuse.
- Learning how to safely provide care for animals exposed to SARS-COV2, including intake procedures:
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- University of Florida Shelter Medicine Program: https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/wordpress/files/2020/03/Interim-Guidance-on-Shelter-Care-of-Animals-Exposed-to-COVID-19_updated-3-15-20.pdf
- U WM Shelter Medicine Program: https://www.uwsheltermedicine.com/library/resources/animal-services-role-in-covid-19-support
- Being open to all ideas. Agencies will likely need to release unaltered pets from shelters during this pandemic. Here’s why.
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- NACA: https://www.nacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Releasing-Unaltered-Pets-from-Animal-Shelters-During-the-COVID-19-Pandemic.pdf – The lack of immediately available spay and neuter services should not be a reason for shelter euthanasia. Three possible live outcome options: adopt out pets unaltered and provide vouchers for future use to get the pet spayed or neutered; outcome pets as ‘foster-to-adopt’ and provide surgeries in the future; and/or provide a list of low-cost spay and neuter services in the community for care after the pandemic is over. Advise pets are kept indoors and not put at risk for reproducing in the home.
- UWM Shelter Medicine Program: https://www.uwsheltermedicine.com/news/2020/3/covid-19-response-limiting-non-emergency-surgery-in-shelters-and-spay-neuter-clinics Reminder that spay/neuter is an elective procedure and risks and supplies should be used only to support emergency surgeries
- Increasing the capacity of foster care programs. This is essential to reducing in-shelter inventory of animals and minimizing risk to shelter staff from COVID-19 exposure. It also provides better welfare for shelter animals to be in a home environment, even if it is temporary.
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- Maddie’s Fund: https://www.maddiesuniversity.org/Catalog/LrnrTab2332/catalog/LrnrCtrl2332/catalog/LrnrKC2332/true/FID2332/abb75043-c5d2-4ba1-b889-e1a7fe7fc030 – This quick class focuses on getting pets out of the shelter and into foster as efficiently as possible, how to create an emergency foster plan to respond to a crisis in your shelter; issue successful foster pleas; create a press release; and network with peers in other shelters and rescues.
- If possible, continue to provide pet food pantries for owners in need. Do this is the safest way possible:
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- Pet food bank converting to Drive Thru status: https://www.coloradopetpantry.org/pet-food-bank-status-in-the-age-of-covid-19/
- Pulling out all the stops to manage intake and support keeping pets in homes.
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- American Pets Alive!: https://sites.google.com/americanpetsalive.org/ampa-covid19/covid-19-protocols/intake-prevention-field-services/owner-rehoming-protocol – help owners rehome without doing intake at shelter, provide supplies/resources to keep animals in home, organize crowdfunding.
- Best Friends: https://network.bestfriends.org/lifesaving-library/covid-19-resources/managing-intake-your-community – this page offers links on how to encourage fosters, manage neonate intake, and provides a playbook on managed intake (https://network.bestfriends.org/lifesaving-library/operational-playbooks/managed-intake-or-admissions-training-playbook) Most of the info on this page is links to American Pets Alive and NACA sources, which I’ve posted below in other topics.
- Following veterinary specific sites for reliable information about the virus and quickly evolving science. The following provide animal shelter kits, checklists, guides, and advice for veterinary professionals:
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- World Small Animal Vet Association (WSAVA): https://wsava.org/news/highlighted-news/the-new-coronavirus-and-companion-animals-advice-for-wsava-members/ basic info about the virus, updated information available in several languages
- AMVA: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/covid-19 – better information about the virus, tips on telemedicine, supply chain impacts, keeping vet teams healthy.
If you need help applying new information to your shelter’s particular challenge, please reach out to our shelter consultation service: sheltermedicine@cornell.edu
