COVID-19 & Shelter Pets: No Matter What
Dear Friends of PACC Supporters,
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for all of the ways you are helping to save lives at PACC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last few weeks, we’ve sent almost every available cat and dog to foster homes. Thanks to tremendous community support, we have 900 PACC pets safe and sound in foster homes and only about 150 animals here at the shelter. Despite significant modifications to our adoption and foster processes, adoptions have continued and we are seeing so many people come out to help save lives.
Your donations are also being put to immediate use. We’re purchasing food and supplies for foster parents, providing emergency surgeries and medical care to the many sick and injured animals who come into the shelter, and providing enrichment items for the cats and dogs who will be housed here through this crisis. As Pima County’s open-admission shelter, we take in nearly 19,000 pets annually and about 25% of those pets have urgent or emergency medical needs. Our officers are in the field daily, rescuing pets facing cruelty or neglect or other immediate dangers.
No matter what, we are here to help the animals who need us the most.
The three puppies pictured here were dumped in the desert a couple of days ago. They were brought to PACC hungry, exhausted and covered in ticks. They received immediate medical care, had the ticks removed and given a big, healthy meal right away. Today, they’ll go up for adoption and find loving homes. These pups are a perfect example of why animal services are considered an essential public service. Without our team, these animals and thousands of others simply wouldn’t survive.
I am writing today to tell you what we anticipate happening in the next two months and to ask for your help. Last April, we took in 1,600 cats and dogs. Last May, we took in 1,900. While we have restricted intake to only emergency situations, we continue to take in 30 to 50 pets each day. We are committed to providing the same standard of care and lifesaving you have come to expect, and we need your help to save our most vulnerable pets. From tiny, orphaned kittens to abandoned senior dogs, we will do everything we can to help the pets who cannot survive without our help.
Our three, greatest current needs are the following:
1. Donate to the Friends of PACC. Your donations will help us save lives, despite the tremendous challenges COVID-19 has brought.
2. Foster a pet. Sign up to be an ‘on-deck’ foster. We’ll contact you as soon as we receive a pet who matches what you’re looking for. We’ll schedule a time for you to come to PACC to meet your pet and take it home, all without you having to enter the facility!
3. Adopt a pet. PACC is doing most adoptions by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call PACC at 520-724-5942 to speak to a counselor.
This is an unprecedented time and we don’t know what the coming weeks will bring. We do know that we are just a week away from the beginning of our busiest time and that we need you now to make sure we are able to serve all the pets who will need us. We are all in this together and as your local animal shelter, we are so grateful for all the support you provide our local pets, today and every day.
Stay home. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. And finally, donate, foster, and adopt to help us save lives through the challenges and uncertainty of COVID-19.
Kristen Hassen-Auerbach
Director of Animal Services
Pima Animal Care Center