COVID-19 v.s Animal Shelters

When rumours of a new disease surfaced in early 2020, nobody could have ever anticipated that it would become as widespread as it did. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is here to stay, and, as is the case with everything else, animal shelters are feeling its effects. Shelters are having to deal with unprecedented issues at a time during which fewer people are volunteering, donating, and adopting. Perhaps most notably, shelters are having to expend more resources on stray dogs; with fewer foreign workers leaving out food for these animals and with little space left in animal shelters, stray feeders have their work cut out for them. Fortunately, the situation isn’t entirely hopeless. Here are some steps you can take to help out animal shelters during these trying times:

1. If at all possible, adopt. This is certainly the hardest thing to do on this whole list but, at the same time, it is also certainly the most important. A single dog takes up vital space and resources to keep alive and healthy, and by adopting, you are either opening up space for more animals in need or taking away the challenge of resources for shelters. Shelters have seen reasonably limited contact with the outside world during the pandemic, so risks of contracting COVID-19 through adopting are extremely low.

Though shelters have been forced to cancel many in-person adoption drives and similar events, a sizable chunk of them have taken to the internet instead. While online alternatives have drawn criticism from some shelters for a multitude of reasons, most notably that pets cannot be matched well with adopters without any real-life interaction, plenty of shelters believe it is a viable alternative that could be extremely beneficial during the pandemic. As such, look out for such adoption ‘e-drives’ and consider adopting if you have the necessary time and resources on your hands.

1. Donating is another great (and probably a far more viable) step to take to help out shelters. As mentioned before, keeping animals healthy requires astronomical amounts of care and resources. Without volunteers coming in to help and without donations to take some animals off shelters' hands, donations are a vital step to take. Even small donations are crucial during these times, so, if at all possible, please donate any amount to animal shelters.

1. Lastly, we need you to spread the word. During the pandemic, many people have taken to contributing to some charitable cause, but, unfortunately, animal shelters have still been largely neglected. If at all possible, take a few minutes out of your day, and tell your friends and family about the issues animal shelters are facing. Better yet, make a few posts on your preferred social media site. Any coverage that gets the word out could mean a few more valuable donations to animal rights organisations and animal shelters that desperately need them.

The pandemic has, unfortunately, made the world worse for just about everyone, and that includes the animals. It is our job to make sure their struggles aren’t forgotten. By doing any of the things above, you are helping to make the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of animals just that much better.