With the current coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the globe, many people are going into lockdown. As a result, animal shelters are noticing a drop in their adoption rates, meaning that they’re feeling the strain trying to care for all the animals.
However, the animal shelters of Kern County, California have come up with a genius solution to the problem of animals in need: drive-thru pet adoptions and fostering.
Since animal shelters are being closed to the public in an effort to comply with social distancing in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, the question of what to do with the animals is becoming a big deal. That is why this solution is a great one because it still allows for the pets to be placed in homes – whether forever or temporary, rather than sitting alone in cages.
Nick Cullen, director of Kern County Animal Services, shared a comment with the Kern County publication Bakersfield.com, saying, “We rely on the public to adopt. When we don’t have that avenue, we’re left with no option to get animals out of the shelter. It’s not healthy to have an animal sit in a cage for 30 days.”
Needing to find a solution, Kern County Animal Services decided to try something a little different and put out an appeal on social media asking for emergency foster homes to come and pick up a pet to foster through a drive-thru style event.
As Cullen described it, the event was “incredible.”
Cullen continued, saying, “What we’ve seen from the community is like nothing we’ve seen before. We’re floored with the response.”
By the end of the day, the shelter was happy to report on Facebook that 88 animals had been placed in foster care. The shelter is planning to transport more dogs and cats from their Mojave and Lake Isabella shelters, so they’ll soon be needing additional foster carers.
Please fill out this Emergency Foster application. Our foster team will contact you when a pet in need enters the shelter. Thank you for helping us save Kern County’s homeless pets! 🐾❤️
Posted by Kern County Animal Services on Tuesday, March 17, 2020
“We’re going to do this as long as we need it,” Cullen said to Bakersfield.com, explaining that the shelter has plans to host another drive-thru even again soon.
Currently, fostering a pet is a perfect solution for many people stuck at home on lockdown.
