As the number of new coronavirus cases continues to increase across the state, so do fears of overcrowding at animal shelters in the Valley where adoption numbers appear to be low amid concerns over the disease.

"All the shelters, we're all on edge," said Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Director Mary Martin. "We're all very nervous about what this could mean for our shelter pets."

Fewer adoptions may lead to overcrowding

Martin said the county's shelters were starting to feel the effects of the public's reaction to the new coronavirus, specifically a reduction in adoptions, she said. The county operates two shelters in Phoenix and Mesa bringing in nearly 30,000 dogs and cats every year, according to its Facebook page.

She explained that over the past weekend about 60 animals were adopted during a fee-waived adoption event that typically sees more than 100 adoptions.

"We can't help but to draw the conclusion that the fear of the virus and infection may be part of that," Martin said. "What we're concerned about and what's a danger for us is that adoptions drop around the nation ... and so we've become fearful that we're gonna get overcrowded."

Larger dogs were more at risk because they're usually not adopted at the same rate as smaller dogs, even before concerns arose over the new coronavirus, according to Martin.

She said the county shelters were not at capacity on Tuesday afternoon mostly because they had limited field services to mandated and emergency calls amid coronavirus concerns. The shelters also were not accepting owner surrenders, although the shelters are connecting people with other organizations that can help, she said.

"If we were actually meeting the demand of our community, we'd probably be at max capacity or over it, but we've limited our calls to emergencies to try to keep kennels open for fear that people are going to stop adopting," she said. The county shelters were accepting unused toy and food donations for the animals but were most in need of financial donations so it could pay to board animals elsewhere in the event of overcrowding, she said.

"That's (euthanization) what nobody wants and we are committed to not going down that road in a wholesale manner," said Martin. "In other words, we are not using it as a way to control space, we still euthanize animals but mostly for significant behavior and significant health issues."

Rep. Greg Stanton, Rep. David Schweikert and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego in a joint press release Tuesday also urged residents to adopt pets as the Maricopa County shelters were at max capacity, the press release said.

Animal shelters were experiencing impacts of the new global coronavirus pandemic and seeking pet adopters “to avoid large-scale euthanizing,” the press release said.

The officials remarked in the press release about how animals can be comforting to people practicing social distancing or isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Arizona Humane Society may be experiencing a similar trend; however, it's too early to know for sure, said society spokesperson Bretta Nelson. The society operates shelters out of two campuses in Phoenix, as well as two PetSmart locations in Mesa and Scottsdale, according to its website.

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This week started slow but there ended up being more adoptions than previous weeks, Nelson said Wednesday. Between Monday and Tuesday, the society had 41 adoptions, Nelson said. Last week at the same time, they had 28 adoptions, and they had 32 adoptions the week before that, she said.

"I think what everyone is experiencing right now is just a great deal of uncertainty," said Nelson. "Today, things are OK and we have precautions in place and adoptions are open, but how long is that going to last is the question you have to ask and none of us really know the answer."

"You really try to move forward in a way that you're going to be OK in the long term and I think part of that’s just to encourage people to come out and adopt," she continued.

Attempts to ease adoptions

Since many people have been encouraged to work from home to mitigate the spread of the disease, some shelters say it's prime time for adoptions as pets will have more time to acclimate to their new homes.

"It's a great time to bring a new family member home and spend time with them, make sure it's a good fit," said Nelson.

Both Martin and Nelson said the shelters could potentially offer adoption specials with the CDC's social distancing recommendations in mind.

To make people more comfortable with adopting amid coronavirus concerns, Martin said they're willing to bring animals to the parking lot. Additionally, the shelters have increased cleaning protocols, are practicing social distancing as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and are willing to bathe animals upon request, she said.

"Some people are concerned that it (the new coronavirus) might be on the coats of animals so if we need to bathe an animal to make some people feel comfortable, I will be willing to do that as well," she said.

The Centers for Disease Control said there is no evidence that companion animals, including pets, can spread the disease known as COVID-19 or that they might be a source of infection in the United States.

To help keep people safe from the disease, the Arizona Humane Society was only conducting adoptions out of its Nina Mason Pulliam Campus for Compassion at 1521 W. Dobbins Road, Nelson said. The shelter was scheduled to open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, she said.

It also increased its cleaning protocols and encouraged staff with even the smallest cold symptoms to stay home, she said. Additionally, the society organized a COVID-19 task force that would meet daily to stay abreast of the situation.

The society's rescue efforts and animal cruelty investigations remained fully operational along with its Second Chance Animal Trauma Hospital for sick, injured and abused homeless pets, said Nelson.

A call to foster animals

The shelters were also encouraging people to foster animals, shelter-in-place any stray animals and hold off on relinquishing pets, if possible.

Lost Our Home Pet Rescue in Tempe asked people to consider donating and fostering its animals, which includes pets in its Temporary Care Program that are owned by families who are recovering from crises like homelessness, illness or domestic violence, explained founder and executive director Jodi Polanski.

Since concerns for COVID-19 grew, the shelter has experienced a volunteer shortage and a decline in adoptions for its available animals, plus the facility met its max capacity as of Tuesday afternoon, said Polanski.

She said she anticipates even more people in need of assistance from the shelter's program now that many people may not be able to work, increasing their potential for losing a residence.

"That's a program that's already been overloaded; last month the big story was rent was so high people were losing their houses so we were seeing an influx because they couldn't afford rent," Polanski said. "Now you add to that people unable to work and it's just going to compound the current problem we already have here."

The shelter has since restricted its funds to emergencies, with domestic violence cases being its top priority, she said. It also requested financial donations to help provide care for adoptable animals who are now staying longer term due to a decline in adoptions, as well as to cover costs of boarding animals elsewhere, said Polanski.

Because of COVID-19, the shelter is meeting with people interested in adopting or fostering on an appointment basis.

Reach the reporter at chelsea.curtis@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels.

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