COVID-19 Daily Digest | Monday, March 23

COVID-19 UPDATES

We have received 200 completed responses to the COVID-19 Shelter and Rescue Response Survey. We want to hear from you, too! How are intake, outcomes, and transfer operations functioning? Has your foster program grown? Are you hitting roadblocks? Are your plans changing rapidly? This survey will help us to create more useful and applicable resources for your shelter to continue lifesaving even through this crisis.

Don’t miss your chance at a 3-month free NACA membership! Sign-up, today.

We are collecting executive orders from states, that include any language about animal services being essential to continue, even through a state mandate to ‘shelter in place.’ If your state has issued an executive order, please email it to [email protected], so we can maintain our growing list. For examples visit our AmPA! COVID-19 Shelter and Rescue Preparedness Guide, which includes examples from California, Colorado, Illinois and the Best Friends Animal Society Shelter in Place Shelter Guidance (see sample docs section).

Helpful Resources

We have added many resources to our AmPA! COVID-19 Shelter and Rescue Preparedness Guide including Foster Program Agreement Samples, which includes an emergency foster application sample, medical pre-adopt addendum sample and foster agreement sample.

This Wednesday, March 25 join us for another LIVE Q&A with Dr. Ellen Jefferson and Kristen Hassen-Auerbach. Sign up today! Bring your questions and hear answers from two of the people leading the charge of ensuring that animals in our shelters and rescues are not needlessly killed, even through a global pandemic. If you missed last week’s Q&A listen here.

Story of the Day

Our efforts are not only driving change in animal sheltering in the United States, but have also influenced the direction other countries are taking in their attempts to continue lifesaving operations in shelters and rescues through the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting to Zero (G2Z), a No Kill organization in Australia is using many of AmPA’s protocols included in our COVID-19 Guide.

In a statement issued yesterday, G2Z stated that they endorse, and support, the Australian Institute of Animal Management (AIMA) statement on animal management and sheltering operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. AIMA links to and pulls from many important resources that have come out of the U.S. over the past couple of weeks, including American Pets Alive!, HeART Speak and NACA. They are pushing harder for foster care in Australia than ever before, urging communities to “Engage the community now, and place as many animals into foster, rescue and adoption placements as possible. If your facility or organisation does not have a foster program in place, contact your rescue partners ASAP and find out how you can assist them to find foster homes for your animals in care. Also see the links provided below on how to make the most of the community’s support and compassion during this time.” Click here to read the statement in its entirety.

Is it possible that the changes we are making may have an effect on how sheltering operates worldwide, even after this crisis is over?

Stay Connected

If you haven’t joined the American Pets Alive! Shelter and Rescue Support group on Facebook, you should. We reached over 1,900 members this weekend! The conversation and support is strong, we are building a community out of this crisis. It may be the closest this movement has ever been. Please invite people you know who may need support during this pandemic to join the page.