Coronavirus: Northern beaches animal shelter sold out of cats up for adoption as people isolate
Pittwater Veterinary Clinic have sold out of cats up for adoption as demand for companion animals grow amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manly
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A northern beaches animal shelter has noticed increasing demand for companion animals amid the coronavirus pandemic after all its cats were adopted.
Pittwater Animal Hospital, which is the animal shelter for Northern Beaches Council, has been receiving a high level of adoption inquiries but they’ve had to inform people there are no more cats left.
Dr Heidi Furber said people are turning to pets during self-isolation.
“We don’t have any available because they’ve all been adopted. People are getting pets to get them through this time which is really good,” Ms Furber said.
Northern Beaches Council pound manager, Sarah Yalvic said they rehomed 18 cats this month. In January they only rehoused seven cats.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from people wanting to adopt cats. If people were thinking about it, now is the time because they’re stuck at home,” Ms Yalvic said.
“We only rehome cats, we don’t have the facilities to rehouse dogs long term. It’s awesome that people want to adopt, but it’s a bit more difficult for people coming into the shelter because we have new protocols.”
Dr Heidi Furber also confirmed animals aren’t affected by the coronavirus strain which is spreading among humans.
It comes after social media posts have circulated on Facebook which claim people have abandoned their pets over fears the animals could pass on the virus.
“I think evidence suggests dogs and cats don’t harbour the virus and pass it on but if somebody is COVID-19 positive they could cough onto the pet and if someone else touches it they could get the virus, just like if they touched any other surface someone coughed on,” Mr Furber said.
“Dogs can carry it on their coat but they’re not more of a risk than anything else in the environment.
“We are being very careful by asking people if they’re unwell and we’re wearing gloves just in case. We’re using our own leads and disinfecting when animals come in.”
The shelter is in the process of rescuing a whole cat colony and could have more cats available for adoption in coming weeks.