Andra, San Francisco

“I am a Volunteer Mentor at the animal shelter San Francisco SPCA. I was working at the shelter on the ringworm medical department with the cats and kittens when the Stay in Place order was just announced by our Mayor London Breed. Everyone was in a panic, not knowing how that would affect the animal shelter; we were concerned for the welfare of the cats and dogs housed in our shelter, as we did not know if we would be shut down. We then learned that the SF SPCA and other animal shelters are deemed ‘essential’ so we would be allowed to be operational. However, it was only for a skeleton crew of employees, closed to public and volunteers. We have 250 cat volunteers and 350 dog volunteers. SF SPCA then organized that the dogs and cats would be fostered out into homes during the pandemic and the Stay in Place order, which has now been a month. We do have some animals at the shelter, ones with medical or behavioral challenges. As a Volunteer Mentor I joined a zoom meeting schedule with the SF SPCA volunteer coordinator lead and 15 other mentors as we strategize what exactly this pandemic will mean and how it will affect our shelter, employees, volunteers, and the public for adoptions. We are doing adoptions by appointment only and people interested have to go to the website to view animal profiles, then on appointment are allowed to come in and meet the animal. It’s a long process. Lots of people want to adopt an animal now as the stay in place order makes life more enjoyable with a pet companion.”

Andra, 60
San Francisco
4/15/20

 

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