How Coronavirus Affects GA Animal Shelters, Adoptions, Supplies

GEORGIA — While coronavirus cases and deaths are on the rise across the country, the nation's shelter animals are also feeling the affect of the virus.

The World Health Organization said "there has been one instance of a dog being infected in Hong Kong. However, there is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit COVID-19. Coronavirus is mainly spread through droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks. To protect yourself, clean your hands frequently and thoroughly."

Even so, many local animals shelters are closing to the public.

Atlanta Humane Society said all of its locations will be closed to the public from March 16 through March 31.

"It is our top priority right now to maintain a safe workplace and implement practices to protect the health of our community," Atlanta Humane said. "We will not be accepting any visitors during this time and our adoptions and admissions program will be closed to the public. It has not been an easy decision for us to close, but we are doing so for the wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, and community."

Animals that are currently listed on the dogs and cats pages will be receiving daily care and enrichment from staff and current volunteers. These animals will be available for adoption when the facilities reopen, but check their updated location as animals might be relocated before reopening. Animals in foster homes will be adoptable during this time on a case-by-case basis. If you are interested in an animal that is in a foster home, email the staff email listed in that animal’s biography.

Atlanta Humane will also postpone or cancel community events and gatherings that are happening during this period, including vaccine clinic, volunteer and community service orientations, the Run for the Rescues, and Puppy Yoga.

The Veterinary Center will remain open to the public for regular appointments.

Atlanta Humane said it does not need any additional volunteers or foster caregivers at this time, but will post online if this changes. They will continue to accept donated goods from their wish list. There are two red bins outside the West Midtown and Alpharetta location to put donated items into. They are also in need of financial contributions to help care for the animals during this time.

"We are a local no-kill facility who relies on our community’s support to care for these animals," Atlanta Humane said. "We receive no government funding, we have no umbrella organization overseeing us or providing us funding, and we are not associated with any other national or local humane society. More than 85 percent of our support comes from our direct Atlanta community, and we need that support to continue during this time. Please consider making a donation to help us care for the animals during and after this time."

Atlanta Humane said it wants to ensure that Atlanta’s pet owners are up-to-date with the current information regarding their pet’s well-being:

Can pets contract COVID-19?

There is no evidence currently that dogs or cats can contract COVID-19, and there are no reported cases from the CDC of dogs or other pets contracting COVID-19.

Can pets transmit COVID-19?

While COVID-19 is believed to originate from an animal source, there is no known reason that the CDC has to believe that pets can spread the virus.

What if I come in contact with someone who has COVID-19 or contract COVID-19 myself?

Per CDC guidelines, individuals who come in contact with, or contract, COVID-19 should avoid additional contact with other people and pets. If you must be a caregiver for your pet while you are sick, be sure to thoroughly wash your hands before and after interacting with them and wear a face mask when you are around them. Do not cuddle or pet your animal, share food with your pet, or let your pet lick you while you are sick.

What should I do to prepare my pet?

As always, you should include your pet in any disaster planning and always be prepared to implement your pet’s emergency plan including:

• Identifying a caregiver for your pet in times of emergency or illness
• Keeping your pet up-to-date with vaccinations and keeping updated medical paperwork on hand
• Keep a two-week supply of food and medications on hand and ensure all medications and dosages are documented
• Ensure your pet’s microchip information is up-to-date and they have proper identification (collar and ID tags) on at all times

Have more questions?

You can visit the CDC’s website for more information on animals and COVID-19.

More shelters in metro Atlanta are reacting to coronavirus, including:

• Lifeline Animal Project: Now through Friday, March 20, all dogs may be adopted for free, including the dog’s spay/neuter, microchip and vaccines. For customer safety and convenience, the organization is offering drive-through adoptions and bringing animals out to meet people at their car.
  • Animal control field officers in Fulton and county partners in DeKalb will continue to respond to emergency and high priority calls. These calls include law enforcement assistance, help with injured or sick animals that are stray, cruelty and neglect complaints, bite complaints and dangerous and aggressive dog complaints. In both counties, officers are limiting responses to non-emergency activity.
    • Those who find stray pets should consider fostering them temporarily through the Friendly Finder program.
    • For owners wanting or needing to give up their pets, Lifeline is asking those not facing an immediate crisis to hold their pets for at least four weeks. If you need help rehoming a pet, visit Rehome.adoptapet.com for assistance and our rehoming web page for more tips.
    • To keep people safe and to facilitate pick up, Lifeline has begun bringing animals out to cars for adopters and fosters. You can sign up on our foster page for an appointment time at one of our shelters. Meet and greets with the animals will also be facilitated with safe distances in play yards.
    • Foster - urgently need fosters for medium and large dogs for four-to-six weeks. To sign up, visit foster page.
    • Donate - during challenging times, funds are more critical than ever to help keep operations flowing and to get needed supplies. make a donation here.
    • Contribute Supplies - to help with needed supplies, visit wish lists.
• PAWS Atlanta: Closed the facility to the public, resulting in the cancellation of Public Wellness Clinic and the suspension of cat and dog intakes and adoptions. It will continue to accept the return of animals from its Foster Program should their foster parents be unable to care for them. PAWS will continue to accept the return of animals that were adopted from PAWS Atlanta should their owners be unable to care for them. They will continue to place animals from the shelter into approved Foster Program homes to reduce the overall number of animals in the shelter that needs to be cared for. Daily operations will be handled by staff and select volunteers.
• Furkids Animal Rescue: Moved its 18th Anniversary Celebration online for March 21. Bid on auction packages from home with kittens and puppies cheering you on via Facebook Live from Furkids headquarters.
• Mostly Mutts: Mostly Mutts isclosed to the public for at least one week, starting March 13. Adoptions may be done by appointment only. The animals will continue to receive care from volunteers. Volunteers: check the internal groups for more information.
• Angels Among Us Pet Rescue: Needs donations to have the funding to rescue as many dogs and cats as possible. Also in need of supplies of all kinds for fosters—food for dogs, puppies, cats, and kittens; sanitization supplies; and cleaning supplies. More on the Amazon wish list. They need volunteers to donate their time and talent (including many things that can be done from home) to help with marketing initiatives and everyday processes and procedures. Also need fosters and adopters due to needing a foster in place to save an animal.

As of Sunday morning, one person in Cobb County has died from the respiratory virus, and the number of confirmed and presumed positive cases of COVID-19 rose from 66 on Saturday to 99 cases in 19 counties by Sunday.

Globally, more than 169,000 people have been infected and more than 6,500 people have died from the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins reported Monday morning. Of that total, more than 3,700 confirmed cases are in the United States. There have been 59 deaths in the U.S. have been tied to the virus outbreak.

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