News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville/Putnam County Animal Shelter says adoptions have been steady during COVID-19 even with limited access to the facility.
“Intakes have not been as high as they normally would, and our overall shelter population is pretty comfortable,” Shelter Director Jennifer Hutchinson-Tracy.
Many worried that pet surrenders would increase because of economic issues for many families. Tracy said that has not been the case.
“We really haven’t seen as many surrenders as we normally do,” Tracy said. “The animals that have been coming in have primarily been strays, and a good many of them have been reunited with their owners fairly quickly.”
However, she quickly added COVID-19 will remain an issue for weeks, at least.
“That’s still a concern because none of us know how long this situation is going to continue,” Tracy said. “So far, it hasn’t been an issue. Fortunately, people were so generous to us right after the tornado that we had quite a stockpile of supplies. We’ve been able to extend our help not only to tornado victims, but if we have someone call that has trouble feeding an animal, we’re in a position to help them.”
Tracy said the shelter wants to limit the number of people coming into the building.
“We’ve had to scale things back quite a bit,” Tracy said. “Obviously we’re not as accessible as we normally are. We are still offering all the services we normally offer, but we’re offering them by appointment.”
COVID-19 has also forced the shelter to reduce its volunteer staff in the interest of safety.
“Normally we have a very good volunteer force,” Tracy said. “For their safety, we’ve asked them to stand down for the time being. We also normally have a workforce from the county jail that comes in and helps clean in the morning, and that’s not been an option for us for several weeks now. So, the staff total staff of six, we’re pretty much doing everything.”
According to the CDC, pets can improve your overall health. They can increase opportunities to exercise, get outside, and socialize. Regular walking or playing with pets can decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Pets can also help manage loneliness and depression.
“It’s been largely proven that animals can be great for reducing stress,” Tracy said. “The act of petting an animal can lower your blood pressure, which is great because any type of stress on your physical condition affects your immune system. So, the happier you are, the more likely you are to resist or recover should you get infected by this virus or anything else.”
The shelter is open for all services by appointment from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m Monday through Saturday. To make an appointment, you can contact the shelter at (931) 526-3647.
