Looking to adopt a pet while social distancing? Midlands shelters see interest surge
Marli Drum has been working at the City of Columbia Animal Services department for more than two decades.
She’s never seen anything like this.
“On our craziest, worst days in the summer we could have as many as 500 (animals) in the facility,” Drum said of the city’s shelter. ”But (right now) we probably have less than 50 animals.”
It’s the emptiest the shelter’s been in years, Drum said, and she attributes that to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Across the Midlands, just like the rest of the country, animal shelters have seen record numbers of families looking to adopt or foster a pet while stuck in their houses under Gov. Henry McMaster’s “Home or Work” order.
It’s an understandable phenomenon.
With so many people sitting at home and shut out from activities ranging from going to bars to working out in gyms because of the need to practice social distancing, the time’s never been better to introduce pets into their families.
Laura Mitchell, president of Wescott Acres Pet Rescue in Columbia, said the recent trend has been a win-win for humans and pets alike. In some cases, Mitchell said, the adopting families had no pet and were ready for one; in other cases, she said, they simply wanted their current pets to have new friends.
“It’s been great,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said her shelter has gone from one adoption inquiry a week to three or four per day during the pandemic. A month ago, she had 20 animals; during one recent day, however, she was down to one animal — leading her to refer some inquiries for younger animals to other shelters.
It’s not been all adoptions though.
Foster volunteers have “come out of the woodwork,” Drum said, to look after pets during a time when shelters have been forced to operate with smaller crews — and have also prohibited from responding to non-emergency calls.
Reid Barrett, CEO of PETSinc, said that shelter has also seen a surge in foster volunteers.
“Fostering is up 70% to 80% because people are home,” Barrett said. “ We have more people willing to foster.”
For those who do adopt during the pandemic, the challenge will be when the “stay-at-home” orders are relaxed and the quarantines are lifted. When that happens, Drum said she and her colleagues are concerned that shelters may see an influx of animals as people readjust to their everyday lives and decide to bring pets back.
And Mitchell said it’s important for owners to ask themselves whether “10 years down the road, am I still going to love this cat just like I do right now while I’m in quarantine?’”
“That’s always our biggest fear,” Mitchell said.
To combat that, Mitchell is keeping up with her existing policies of asking potential families for references and conducting home visits, now through FaceTime. Meanwhile, PETSinc is offering low-cost training and grooming during the pandemic, and the City of Columbia Animal Services is seeking donations of pet food to offer to owners if cost is an issue.
People looking to adopt a pet while still practicing social distancing can visit PetFinder or Pet Harbor online to view animals before contacting shelters to set up an appointment.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 3:21 PM.
