Re-location of companion animals for adoption in the time of COVID-19 requires extra attention to travel restrictions, hand-off procedures, and the reduction of bottlenecks to services to reduce length of stay. Many organizations are excited to re-launch relocation programs, and fortunately there are some great resources for doing so safely and humanely.
Comprehensive Toolkit
- ASPCA’s COVID-19 Animal Relocation Preparedness Guide: Recommendations highlight the numerous issues that should be considered by animal welfare organizations in their planning for resumption of relocation programs. https://www.aspcapro.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/aspca-animal-relo-prep.pdf
Tips and Tricks
- American Pets Alive!’s 6 Tips for Successful Rescue Transports During COVID-19: Now more than ever, rescue transport is a critical part of saving pets in under-resourced shelters. Here’s how to safely run a strong transport operation in the age of sanitizing and social distance. https://americanpetsalive.org/blog/tips-for-successful-rescue-transports-during-covid-19
Sample Protocol
- Maine’s COVID-19 Transport Protocol: Need a protocol for that? This document from ME is a good example of a transport SOP you can edit to write your own. The Maine Federation of Humane Societies, in conjunction with the HSUS, developed these sample documents. Review the protocols >>
Webinar and more….
- If a Webinar is more your style, tune into the June 4th webinar, “COVID-19: Transport During a Pandemic”, hosted by Best Friends, which provided the following resources from their partners.
- Transport resources https://network.bestfriends.org/covid-19/lifesaving-programs#transport
- Best friends transport SOP https://mcnt-files-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/inline-files/Animal%20Lifesaving%20Travel%20-%20CV%20042020.pdf?z9gJDlYLQnOD8xqrJTAs..Cox2abWAjD
- Houston transport video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aNsWroix1w&feature=youtu.be
- Ruff Start transport SOP https://mcnt-files-prod.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/inline-files/Ruff