As we know there are many uncertainties relating to COVID 19 and Dogs. I want to help you to understand what we need to do to help safeguard our dogs and what we need to do to prepare for their safety in the middle of a crisis or in this case a Pandemic. Our dogs are part of our family and we need to take the time to create a plan of action to make sure they are safe and secure even during a crisis.
While researching a couple of questions from an avid reader of The Wood Hound I found that I did not want to just provide just a few lines of text and give this person a simple answer. What I found was much more complicated and information that could possibly help many more people going forward regarding our dogs and keeping them safe.
Some People have panicked over the COVID-19 outbreak not only in Wuhan but across the world and for good reason, this is a highly contagious virus and in order to defeat it, we have to take it seriously and work together to try to conquer this outbreak. This has resulted in a need to keep ourselves safe and our dogs safe starting at home and throughout our communities, they live in.
Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak…
Rewind back to January 23, 2020, Not realizing the vast degree of the virus many people in Wuhan, China, which research has been found to be the epicenter of the Coronavirus outbreak went about their business in preparing for the Chinese New Year, which is always a big celebration for the country and time spent with family and friends.
In preparation for the celebrations to begin people traveled out of Wuhan, leaving their pets behind for a few days.
When the lockdown began on January 23, 2020, two days prior to the Chinese New Year, many people had already traveled out of Wuhan or scurried to leave before the lockdown was mandated at 10:00 am on that morning. After the lockdown happened many people had not returned home and were not allowed to return home or was in quarantine leaving many pet parents helpless to provide the care for their pets that they had left behind in their homes.
Panicked animal lovers reacted contacting neighbors, many different organizations and even turning to social media just to try to get their pets food, offering to pay for services.
In the cry for help, a man Lao Mao and his group of pet lovers have done the unthinkable, going against the lockdown and breaking into homes to feed and provide medical treatment to thousands of these starving animals that were left behind. According to Global Animal, Mr. Mao says, at the time of the article back the first part of February, there were approximately 5,000 that were still at risk of starvation and he and his group were doing everything they can to get to them.
A volunteer from Furry Angels Heaven in Wuhan was also doing what she could to rescue many of these animals and after the shelter filled up and ran out of room, she took the overflow of approximately sixty pets, into her apartment. This leads to more problems with this overwhelmed volunteer as the animal count is limited to one per apartment, trying to take care of the overpopulation at the pet shelter, and hoping not to get caught by authorities and concerned with not enough money to purchase the food to feed them. She is doing her best to do what she can for the growing population of homeless pets in Wuhan.
Pets being left behind are not the only problem for the pet population in Wuhan but information leading people to understand pets are a problem with spreading the virus, even though the WHO states there is no evidence leading us to feel that our domesticated animals could catch the virus or spread the virus to humans.
This lead to pets being abandoned on the streets or dumped at shelters, another issue as pet parents they were not prepared in case they were to get the virus ending up in quarantine or hospitalized and pets again to fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, the problem with our pets is not only a problem localized in Wuhan, but has spread across the world causing shelters to be overcrowded now with fewer adoptions and more need for people to help out our furry friends.
What Can We Learn From Wuhan About Protecting Our Dogs?
This is definitely a learning experience, unfortunately, it had to be at the expense of our dogs and cats. What should pet parents have done differently regarding their furry pals to make sure they were protected and taken care of?
My first thought is, never leave your dog unattended when going out of town, after all, you never know what might happen. If leaving town and not taking your pets with you arrangements should always be made for a pet sitter whether it is someone coming to your home, staying with friends and family, or boarding. This way you know there is always someone that will take care of your pets while you are gone.
Another thing that comes to mind is having a backup plan. If a problem arises with the designated person you have left in charge to take care of your pet. In the case of COVID 19 and dogs, the person providing care may have ended up quarantined or sick with the virus leaving your dog without the proper care. It is always best to have an action plan in case of a crisis or emergency situation and keeping your dog’s tags on them and having them microchipped is more security for our dogs during this time.
It is always good to be prepared and have a plan for our dogs even when there is not a worldwide pandemic creeping about. I have put together an eBook to help you get prepared in case of a disaster/crisis/emergency that you can download for free.
Get The Facts Before Reacting
People get scared and many times animals become the culprit even if a concern does not exist. It is always best to make sure of the facts before placing blame where it should never exist. At this time the OIE and AVMA are still holding to the fact that our domestic animals are not a threat as COVID-19 is primarily passed from human to human.
You may have heard about some of the laboratory testings that have been conducted on animals and that it is possible that cats and ferrets are found as possible hosts for the virus and may be susceptible to passing the virus in a perfect setting to other members of the same species; however, experts state this is not likely in a natural setting. There is still not enough evidence that has been developed for COVID 19 and Dogs in a natural setting that these animals have a likelihood of contracting the virus or pass it between the species and should not be taken as fact. I have an article out there that explains the new coronavirus and provides you with the answers dog parents need to know.
There are still a very small amount of cases of this concerning this virus within the animal community outside the US and within the US the only human-animal transmission that has been documented is that of the Bronx zoo tigers and lions in New York.
In fact, in a more recent study from the preprints at medRxiv in a more natural environment of veterinary students that came down with the virus, 12 dogs and 9 cats living with these students were tested due to the close contact with these students. A few of the animals had signs of possible coronavirus; however, none of the dogs or cats tested positive to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and had no indication of antibodies related to the virus. I would say this is a much better environment for testing and closer to that of our homes with our precious fur babies.
With this new virus among us there are still many uncertainties that revolve not only in humans but in our dog community, what we do know is our dogs do not seem to be contracting the disease easily or dying of the virus as humans are. So far there have not been any reported cases of domestic animals passing the virus to humans, so unless that changes through the research that our experts are scurrying to develop we do not have any need to be alarmed and there is no evidence that we can actually catch the virus from our loving fur babies.
Never Leave Pets Unattended
Leaving pets unattended is never a good practice when you plan to be away for an extended time period. You never know what might happen when you are gone, there is even a risk while you are at work for the day. There have been many stories of animals being trapped during fires or storms with no way to escape. The case of Wuhan was a lockdown with no way to get back to them, could this have been avoided? Absolutely with a plan in place for emergencies. Do you have a plan for your animals in case of a disaster/crisis/emergency?
Our pets are part of our family and rely on us to take care of them, feed them, provide shelter and supply adequate health care. If for some reason you plan to be away from your animals for even a few days it is best to find someone to care for them while you are away and better yet to have a backup plan in case something happens with the first plan. Here at The Wood Hound we even have a pet sitter that comes in and provides the care that our pack needs even while we are out for longer than a few hours. If for some reason we do not have someone to care for our dogs we simply do not leave.
With that said, you might be wondering about evacuation from your home, what do you do then? This is where it is best to have a plan for all types of emergencies and know what to do during different scenarios. The first thing is keeping those fur babies safe and cared for even in an emergency if evacuated practice loading them up and taking them to that specified safe place that you have designated. It is always best for anyone else that cares for your pets to know what to do as well. Be Safe and Be Prepared.
How Media Contributes To Panic
With the media, it is good advice not to believe everything you hear. The media many times play a big role in creating what they call a breaking story and blowing it out of proportion or reporting in a way that seems to lead people to believe something that just is not true.
I am not downplaying COVID-19, I just think the media should have been a bit more diligent in what they put out there for the people where our dogs and cats were involved.
Fear of the unknown is a huge motivational factor and one that can definitely bring upset to our animal community. This may have been a factor in what happened in Wuhan with the pet community, regarding reports that animals could likely be the source of where the original virus had infected people within the Wet Market.
In a time of chaos, people did not take the time to identify if this was the truth and started surrendering their animals to animal shelters, having them euthanized or just turning them out on the streets. With more concise information this may have saved many people from panic mode and many of the pets in Wuhan would have continued to thrive with their pet parents and remained safe.
How Is COVID-19 Affecting Shelters In The US?
In the US the people seem to have a better understanding of how COVID-19 might affect our furry friends and have been doing everything possible to help educate and inform pet parents in how to take care of our pets during the pandemic. According to the CDC and AVMA there is no evidence that dogs and cats can transfer the virus to humans. COVID-19 is generally human to human contact that spreads the virus.
Social distancing and protecting our shelter workers and the shelter dogs is a big goal right now during our shelter in place orders placed on the US. The shelters have been creative and have taken a different approach to pet adoptions by either online adoption or curbside adoptions. This approach is to help protect the workers and volunteers that help with our shelter pets daily. People have been receptive to these new ways of adopting pets into their homes, which is good news for the pet community.
If you are an animal lover and wondering how to help, many shelters are in need of foster homes for their shelter animals, this helps to work some of these animals out of the shelters to provide more social distancing and opens up space for animals that may need to be quarantined out of the abundance of safety. In fact, many shelters are trying to negotiate with pet owners wanting to relinquish their pets to wait or to help them to find a solution to why they are wanting to relinquish their pets so they can keep them safe in their homes. If you would like to help in some way give your local shelter a call and see how you can assist them during this time.
Another way you can help is by trying to get a stray dog home, many times dogs are not strays and have homes they just need a little assistance in finding their way back to that home. If you come across a stray dog check to see if it has tags and if it does try to call the owner to let them know you have found their dog and getting it back home before having to take it to the shelter. With stray cats and kittens, the shelters are saying if they are healthy to let them remain in place in their community many times, they will find their way back home as well.
How To Keep Our Dogs Safe
Develop an emergency plan – developing an emergency plan is part of being a responsible pet parent. It is good to know where your pet will go if something happens that you are unable to care for your pet. Make sure to write down any medications your pet takes regularly, what type of food they are on and the name and number of your veterinarian.
Stock up on pet supplies – At this time make sure you have 2-4 weeks supply on hand at all times to make sure your pet is covered for food and supplies, including any prescriptions your pet may need. Being prepared gives you peace of mind during this critical time.
Enjoy spending time at home with your pet – with the fear of catching COVID-19 many people are home or working from home with their animals, now is a great time to spend some extra bonding time with that fur baby and enjoy them while you can. If you are not sick there is no problem with snuggles, walking, or playing with your pets. Enjoy!
What if you get sick – if you happen to contract COVID-19 and remain home, it is fine to keep your pet home with you just make sure to protect your pet like you would another family member by keeping your distance and using a mask and washing hands before and after you interact with your pet, it is even better if you have another family member in the home that can care for you pet during this time for even more protection for your pet. These safety measures are due to the slight chance that your pet may be able to get the virus from you. At the time I am writing this we have had very few domestic animals in the world infected with COVID-19 and in the states, there have been no reports of our pets contracting the virus.
Here is a great link for a pdf document from animalsheltering.org that you might be interested in.
Wrap Up On COVID 19 and Dogs
These are uncertain times and there is information we just do not know with the new COVID-19 that has taken the world by storm. It is best to stay up-to-date with the developments from good sources and not believe everything you hear in the media. Many of the resources that I use include the AVMA, CDC, and OIE.
As we have seen education and the correct information are extremely important in our pet community to help keep them safe and out of harm’s way. Make sure to keep your pets with you and keep them safe. Always make sure to have a disaster/crisis/emergency plan in place so that you know exactly what to do if the day ever comes that you will have to have that plan. Make sure to get your plan now to Be Safe and Be Prepared.
Are you still looking for more answers to questions regarding COVID 19 and dogs? Check out my article Coronavirus in Dogs – Answers Dog Parents Need To Know.
Stay Safe and Keep Those Dogs Safe and At Home With You! And as always thanks for helping to keep our dog healthy, happy and well-adjusted.
Dena Briley
The Dog Mom
Dena Briley known as The Dog Mom at her website https://thewoodhound.com is dedicated in helping dogs and the dog parents that love them to stay connected, bonded and understand how to keep our dogs healthy, happy and well-adjusted. She has a well-rounded knowledge of raising dogs not only firsthand as a dog mom but holds a certificate in natural animal health care and in addition has worked hard in her education and research to become a Canine Specialist.
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