THUNDER BAY - While animal shelters are still considered an essential service in the province of Ontario, the Thunder Bay District Humane Society is changing some of its services to help protect the public and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After we reviewed the revised essential services list released by the provincial government, it was clear that it was time to stop our adoption program temporarily, as well as halt all veterinary care that isn’t urgent or emergency,” said Shawna Beaulieu, executive director at the Thunder Bay District Humane Society.
The shelter on Rosslyn Road remains closed to the public but the Humane Society is still accepting animal surrenders as part of its goal to continue helping the community during these challenging times.
“We want to be there for our community,” Beaulieu said. “If there is an urgent need or an animal does need to come into our care, we will accept them. We will continue as always to try and keep pets and families together, that is part of our mission, but we understand that sometimes surrendering an animal is the best for the animal and really the only choice for the owner so we want to be there with that service.”
The low-cost spay and neuter clinic is no longer accepting animals at this time, but the veterinarian is available for urgent or emergency care for animals in the shelter.
There are currently only six animals living in the Humane Society shelter after an quick response from the community for foster homes.
“We put out one call on social media and the response was overwhelming,” Beaulieu said. “I believe we placed the majority of our animals into foster within two days.”
“That will allow us to have space in our shelter so we can continue to accept animals that urgently need to come into our care.”
The shelter, which usually has approximately 12 people working at a time, is now down to a team of two on a daily basis who practice social distancing. The remaining staff continues to work from home.
Beaulieu said it is unclear how long adoptions will be suspended but they will continue to follow direction from the provincial government.
And with the low-cost spay and neuter clinic no longer available, as well as possible financial hardships faced by people out of work during the pandemic, the Humane Society is preparing for a potential surge in the number of animal surrenders in the coming months.
“We are trying to be proactive in that and looking ahead at how we can help out the community when that comes around,” Beaulieu said. “Our goal and mission is always to keep pets and families together when possible, so we will continue to do that, but we do anticipate increased surrenders in the coming months.”
