Animal Shelters Need People To Foster Dogs Amid Virus Outbreak

With more of us going into self-isolation and practicing social distancing, there is more of a possibility of us getting lonely – especially if we live alone. It only natural that we would feel a little alone when we can’t go out and see people. So, while some of us are fortunate enough to have pets at home, that is not always the case.

So, if you are petless but would like some company, consider fostering! In fact, the Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) in Virginia is trying to encourage potential pet owners to give fostering a try amid the COVID-19 pandemic that is currently all over the world news. So, if you had been entertaining the idea of possibly opening your home to a foster, now is as good a time as any.

In fact, the shelter has posted an appeal on Facebook.

You see, in light of the outbreak, the RACC has another motivation for wanting to get more of their animals into foster care – they want to reduce their kennel staff as a precaution to reduce the risk of disease exposure. However, the RACC can’t do that until they have fewer animals in their care. Hence why fostering would be such a big help.

The shelter’s post said, “On this Monday morning we are feeling thankful. Thankful for your incredible support; thankful we closed RACC in an effort to keep this virus from spreading and put protocols in place for necessary interactions. RACC is the only open-admission shelter in Richmond—we can’t control what animals come to us or how many will need our help in the coming weeks. Life-saving is paramount and our incredible officers are working 24/7 to help those animals most in need. So many of you have opened up your heart and home to a RACC shelter pet during this tricky time and we thank you! The fewer animals we have in house, the more we can reduce our kennel staff workforce, which reduces exposure. The goal here is to keep our human and pet populations safe. Thank you to everyone for your continued support! #weareyourcityshelter #virtualadoption #fosteringsaveslives.”

In fact, the RACC isn’t the only shelter who is currently trying to encourage fostering and/or adoption. Some of the cities that are searching for people to take in a foster or pet, are New York City, Austin, Phoenix, Chicago, and Memphis. Some of these shelters are even offering adoption services free of charge without the adoption fee, according to House Beautiful.

Of course, the current virus isn’t the only thing that is making the rounds, so is a ton of misinformation. For those people who think that pets are to blame for the spread, this is absolutely not true. According to information released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no evidence has been found that companion animals such as pets “can spread COVID-19.”

So, with that misinformation cleared up, why not help your local shelter out and foster a pet? They make great social distancing companions!