It's a sight rarely seen at any animal shelter and one that hasn't ever been seen at the Santa Rosa County Animal Shelter in its 25-year history: empty kennels.

But that's exactly what you'll see at the Pine Forest Road facility in Milton right now. Rows and rows of kennels that used to be filled with barking dogs clamoring at the metal bars or shaking in the corner on a worn-out mat are now quiet and abandoned.

For the past week, staff at the animal shelter have been working overtime to get their 150-plus dogs and cats out of the facility and into foster or adoptive homes to prepare for major changes ahead due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, March 20, the Santa Rosa County Animal Shelter had 169 dogs and cats available for foster or adoption.

One week later, it had just three: one dog and two cats.

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"The past week has been overwhelming, because it's been a huge change and has created a lot more work," said Jessica Gutmann, the shelter's director of operations. "But it's also very rewarding as well to see (the animals) all going out, and everyone at the shelter is extremely touched by the support that we've been getting from the community. It really helps everyone at the shelter feel that the community appreciates them."

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the shelter is having to reduce staff numbers to essential-only personnel, and restrict visits from humans to appointment-only. It also suspended all animal intake, from strays to owner surrenders, and reduced its adoption fees to $10 for cats and $25 for dogs to encourage more adoptions.

Staff reached out to hundreds of volunteers, both those who have been volunteers for a long time and brand new ones, to help get the dogs and cats into homes. Most of them answered the call.

"This is going to give us the opportunity to do some deep cleaning and organizing, as well as staff training on animal-related things such as animal behavior and handling," Gutmann said. "It's going to allow us to just get stronger and be able to be even better than before, for when the animals do start coming back."

There's no timeline yet on when the shelter will start accepting animals again. Right now, they're only bringing in emergency cases, such as animals who are sick, injured or dangerous.

Just two years ago, Santa Rosa County had the highest animal euthanasia rate in the state of Florida. Staff and county officials have been working in the past two years to implement several changes to how animal welfare issues are approached, and brought in Gutmann a few months ago to help transition the shelter into a no-kill shelter within a year.

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Seeing all the empty kennels on Friday made shelter staff realize their efforts were working.

"I think when the shelter first tried to change things, there was a lot of skepticism about if things would work or not," Gutmann said. "And now they're finally seeing the results of the efforts they have been making and that what they've been doing really works. I think this week was the pinnacle of them seeing everything come together, and it's been really inspiring for everybody and has given them a renewed hope and positivity about their jobs."

As for all the pets currently in foster, shelter staff is working on implementing "virtual visits" so potential adopters can meet with current fosters to practice social distancing.

To view animals currently in foster, visit santarosa.fl.gov.

Annie Blanks can be reached at ablanks@pnj.com or 850-435-8632.