03/15/2020
Serving the Pets and People of NYC
As we learn more about the coronavirus we wanted to share with the public what steps ACC is taking in response to prepare for any possible impacts that COVID-19 (“coronavirus”) has on our animals and the community of pets and people we serve. Regular updates concerning changes to our services will be posted on our website www.nycacc.org.
Taking care of the homeless and abandoned animals of NYC cannot be done by working remotely. Currently we are focused on two activities: reducing onsite population through a major appeal for fosters, adoptions and placement; and managing and minimizing the number of new animals entering the shelter. To succeed we need the help of the community.
Short-term Emergency Measures
ACC is asking people to avoid surrendering healthy pets, following the guidance provided by the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA). NACA is advising animal shelters to take extra measures to reduce shelter intake to mitigate the short and long-term effects of COVID-19. If you are not facing an immediate crisis please consider surrendering your pet at a later date. For any pet owners who need to surrender immediately, we will still take their pets.
Fosters needed to decrease on site population to help us prepare for the worst: ACC needs 200 “on call” emergency fosters, who can take home a pet if ACC reaches critical capacity. ACC will need fosters for all types of pets but housing for medium and large dogs and pets with medical issues will be most needed. ACC provides vet care, crates, supplies, and food. People can sign up to be an on-call emergency foster caregiver:
https://forms.gle/TPeVDXA5e154WhgT6
Found a stray pet? ACC is also asking people who find friendly stray pets to consider fostering them until the shelter can resume normal operations. Pets typically stay pretty close to home when they go missing, so this helps get pets home much more quickly, without having to endure the stress of the shelter. Stray finders can take the pet to a vet clinic or to ACC to check for a microchip, file a found report, and hold the pet to give the owner time to locate it. Consider using the lost & found apps Shadow and PawBoost, they can help by making the reunification instead of ACC.
Closings: The ACC Bronx and Queens Resource will be closed until further notice starting tomorrow, 3/14. Staten Island ACC will be open from 9am - 5pm until further notice. Mobile Adoption Events for this weekend (3/14 and 3/15) have been canceled.
Plan ahead: Pet owners are encouraged to make plans for their pets in case someone in the home falls ill. People should stock up on two extra weeks of pet supplies and identify a pet sitter who can help out if the pet owner becomes hospitalized.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement saying there is no evidence that dogs or cats can be infected or could spread the virus that causes COVID-19.
For information about local impacts of coronavirus on humans and guidance for keeping yourself and others healthy, please follow the dedicated page on the NYC Department of Health website: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/coronavirus.page. We highly recommend that everyone sign up for the city’s text notification system to get regular updates. Text COVID to 692-692. You will receive regular SMS texts with the latest developments.
New Yorkers have a rich history of helping each other during hard times. Now more than ever we need to band together as a community to get through this crisis.
