North Shore Animal League America still fostering adoptions

Tanner Callicutt of Manhattan had thought about getting a puppy for some time, but house-training one seemed daunting given his busy schedule as an actor and a restaurant host. 

So when New York state shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in mid-March, Callicutt thought, “‘When am I going to have six weeks of undivided attention to devote to training him and making sure that he’s house-broken?” 

In December, Callicutt’s friend, Will Ganss, went through North Shore Animal League America, a no-kill animal rescue center in Port Washington, to get a puppy. He noticed the amount of love a shelter pet can give, so he decided to go with North Shore Animal League for his new puppy. 

Callicutt is not the only one to take advantage of the stay-at-home order to train and get to know a new pet. “There are a lot, a lot of people who are inquiring about adopting animals,” Diane Johnson, North Shore Animal League’s vice president of shelter Operations, said. “Basically, all of the animals that we have on our website, someone has asked about, which is great because a lot of them are long-term animals that have been here a little bit longer.” 

Because the animal rescue can no longer allow walk-ins, potential adoptees can look for adoptable cats and dogs on the organization’s website, www.animalleague.org. On the website, Callicut found a lab-mix puppy named Otis. “I saw his picture online and immediately fell in love,” Callicut said. 

Callicutt then contacted North Shore Animal League and was able to filled out his adoption application over the phone and made an appointment. On April 3, he sat down with Otis at the rescue. “By the end of it, I was like ‘Yeah, he’s mine,’” he said. “I want to take him home.” 

Johnson said now is a good time to adopt a pet. “People are home and they have the time to devote to an animal,” she said. “This is a great time for training and spending time with them. We had an outpouring, before this happened, of people who wanted to foster. So we have 40 animals in foster homes that are getting attention 24/7 rather than being here.” 

Fostering has been the alternative option, Johnson said, for pets whose owners died from Covid-19. She said there were two cases that the shelter handled. In one, the animal was supposed to be housed at the shelter, but at the last minute a relative stepped up to take the animal in. 

In another, a neighbor of an individual took in the animal as a foster pet. The neighbor is now working independently to have the animal adopted. “Rather than the animal coming to the shelter, where it’s new for them, and it’s scary, they’re with a foster in a safe and loving environment,” Johnson said. 

North Shore Animal League could not name the foster owners for privacy reasons.

For animals that do currently live at the shelter, staff members and volunteers have provided care for them too. Adoptable dogs are walked three to four times a day and are able to go outside and play. Volunteers have also been taking them to the beach. 

“Our front line has been unwavering,” Johnson said. “We’ve been here from the start. Our staff and volunteers are still here providing care and enrichment for the animals, and you can’t ask for more than that. Our staff is so dependable when it comes to the animals.” 

Also dependable, Johnson said, has been the emergency veterinary service provided by North Shore Animal League’s Pet Health Centers, which are now doing a curbside service for which the animal is brought in and the owner stays in the car. 

“Veterinary medicine has been deemed an essential service, so we have remained open to some degree,” Dr. Mark Verdino, a veterinarian with North Shore Animal League, said. “We have, at this point, closed what we would consider non-critical services. So we’re not doing annual exams for the most part. We’re not doing elective procedures, like if a dog needs dental cleaning...”

Verdino and his team have also worked to inform the public on the relationship between Covid-19 and companion animals. As of April 22, only two companion animals had tested positive for Covid-19, and the chances of humans spreading the disease to animals are low, officials said.

 “There have been, globally, very few cases where they have tested animals in the home of Covid patients and they have gotten positive tests,” Verdino said. “Does that mean they are infected, or does that mean they are just picking it up on the test? That’s what we really don’t know.” 

As of now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that those who are sick with Covid-19 stay isolated from their pets, along with anyone else in their household. The CDC has also recommended keeping pets away from situations in which they could interact with other animals and humans outside the household. 

However, Verdino said, people should not be paranoid. He has heard of cases in other shelters and rescues in which people have tried to drop off their pets out of fear they could contract or spread coronavirus, or that owner would be unable to care for the pet if quarantined. This is has not happened at North Shore Animal League to date, however, he said.

“What we’re trying to do is tamper that paranoia out a little bit,” Verdino said. “Again, there’s no evidence that companion animals are playing any roles whatsoever in the transmission of this disease.” 

Go to North Shore Animal League’s website at animalleague.org to browse adoptable pets and contact (516) 883-7575 to become a pre-approved adopter. Adoptions are done by appointment. The organization is also accepting donations.