Cookeville-Putnam Animal Shelter Temp. Closed For Staff Shortage

Cookeville-Putnam Animal Shelter will be temporarily closed to the public until October 23rd.

Director Jennifer Hutchinson-Tracy said COVID related issues have left the organization short-staffed.

“We are still accepting animals via animal control,” Hutchinson-Tracey said. “So if there is a stray animal, aggressive animal or injured animal, call animal control.”

With only three staff members available, Hutchinson-Tracy said the precaution was needed to ensure animal services continue. Hutchinson-Tracy said staff members will still monitor phone lines for non-emergency situations.

“So if you lost or found a pet and you want to report that, please do,” Hutchinson-Tracy said. “We also encourage you to check out the local Facebook pages for those purposes. The primary one we monitor is Rescue 931-Cookeville and surrounding areas.”

Hutchinson-Tracy said the cat adoption event at PetSmart also continues. Hutchinson-Tracy said if other COVID issues come about, the reopening date could be subject to change.

“Bear with us and we apologize for the inconvenience,” Hutchinson-Tracy said. “We want to get everything back to normal as quick as possible.”