Each day more confirmed cases of COVID-19 are being reported in the Hudson Valley and many if not all are concerned about how this will affect our community and the pets we all love. We know this is a scary time for many and I wanted to reach out to you to let you know everything we are doing here at Pets Alive to keep everyone safe.
Keeping our staff, animals, volunteers, and visitors safe
- We have canceled our upcoming Bowl-a-Thon Event. We are working closely with Quinnz Pinz and hope to be announcing a new date very soon. If you have already registered, donated an item for the silent auction, signed up to volunteer for the event, or sponsored a lane, please watch your inbox as we will be communicating all the needed information to you.
- We have suspended all New Volunteer Orientations through the end of March
- We have suspended school groups and other groups from visiting until further notice
- We took a proactive approach weeks ago and made sure we had sufficient supplies on hand for the daily care and needs of the animals in our care. – food, medical supplies and disinfectants for our animal areas – we use Rescue
- We are communicating with our volunteers, to please stay home if they have traveled outside the US in the last 30 days, have come in contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or someone who is being ruled out, if their child’s school is closed down, and of course, if you have a fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat
- We have also bumped up our daily cleaning measures and are cleaning door handles and surfaces in our common public areas multiple times a day.
- Staying sanitized: We have hand sanitizer in all our public areas and ample antibacterial soap
- We are staying informed, we are working closely with our national animal sheltering community and are participating in daily discussions to stay up-to-date on possible animal shelter impacts. Animal Sheltering magazine recently released a coronavirus tool kit, which is a helpful read for those of us working and volunteering in the shelter: https://www.animalsheltering.org/COVID19
What Pet Owners Should do
- Create a plan: We encourage all pet owners to have an emergency plan in place for their pets. Make sure pets are wearing proper identification; have crates and extra food or supplies on hand; and identify a trusted family member, friend or pet sitter who can care for your pet if you or a family member become ill or are hospitalized.
Things to know
- COVID-19 is contagious for humans and, as of now, is understood to spread primarily from person to person. The WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association ) Global Veterinary Community—an association representing more than 200,000 veterinarians—states that there is no evidence that pet dogs or cats can be a source of infection to other animals or humans.
- According to the World Health Organization, to date, there have not been any cases of dogs or cats becoming sick with the new coronavirus, COVID-19. There is also no evidence of people catching the virus from companion animals.
At this time, Pets Alive is remaining open to the public. We have many amazing pets still searching for a family to call their own and we encourage you to open your hearts and home to them. We are hard at work protecting the health and well-being of our staff, volunteers, visitors and of course, the pets in our care. We will continue to monitor the situation and will keep you updated as changes happen.
Wash your hands, sneeze, and cough into your elbow and know we will get through COVID-19.
Becky Tegze
Executive Director
Pets Alive
