If you want to adopt a pet in Habersham County you’ll need an appointment.
The county has restricted public access to its animal shelter. Now, only Animal Care and Control employees are allowed inside the building.
The county announced the restriction today as part of its latest effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Anyone interested in adopting a pet from the shelter must first make an appointment at https://calendly.com/hcacc/30min. After scheduling a visit, a staff member will call to discuss the animals that are up for adoption. During their scheduled visit, adopters will remain outside the building and a masked and gloved staff member will bring the pet outside the gate to meet them.
“We’re trying to come up with creative ways to not only place pets but make sure that we are also helping the community safely when they need us,” explains Habersham County Animal Care and Control Director Madi Nix.
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Five pets were adopted from the shelter on Saturday under the new ‘by appointment only’ rules. Still, many more animals need homes.
Currently, the shelter is housing 35 dogs and 36 cats. “We’re about at capacity for dogs, but thankfully have a little breathing room on cats,” says Habersham County Animal Care and Control Director Madi Nix. “We were fortunate that ‘spring’ had not totally ‘sprung’ yet.”
Nix says they have seen an increase in foster families temporarily taking in animals to help relieve some of the overcrowding at the shelter “which has been a blessing.” Still, she adds, “We definitely need more adopters and fosters!”
READ COVID-19 Restricted Access to Animal Control
Scaling back operations
In addition to changing how adoptions are managed, HCACC is scaling back its operations. Following guidelines from the National Animal Control Association (NACA), HCACC will continue to answer high priority/emergency calls such as picking up injured strays and responding to bite complaints. HCACC is temporarily suspending its low-priority/non-emergency activities such as picking up non-aggressive strays and responding to leash law and barking complaints.
In addition, the animal shelter is reducing its animal intake. Whenever possible, HCACC officers are returning pets to their owners instead of impounding them. They’re also suspending non-emergency owner surrender intake and encouraging those who are ill to keep their pets at home.
The county says it will provide animal control officers with personal protective equipment (PPE) for cases requiring a response where someone who is sick or has been exposed to COVID-19. Officers have been instructed to make every effort to not enter the home of anyone who is known to have been exposed to the virus.
