I wrote a piece several years ago about the rescue dog operation overseen by our friend Carol in conjunction with a number of other rescues and national organizations. They bring dogs (like our two) north from the high-kill shelters down south, where spaying and neutering are far less common, which in turn leads to an explosion of the canine population.
I thought it would be useful to repost it today, because they held their monthly rescue transport in South Jersey and my good friend Bill Stanley, who fosters rescue dogs, told me the number of rescue groups involved and the number of dogs rescued was lower than normal. The rescues took significant precautions, he said, but the need for social distancing likely is having an effect on the number of volunteers and organizations that can participate. On the plus side, he said, more people are home, which makes it easier for them to adopt, acclimate and train their animals — but still, the virus is obviously taking its toll.
This is another under-reported way in which the coronavirus is affected us. I don’t mean to imply that this impact is on the same level as the human illness and economic damage we are experiencing. But the impact is real. Many of these animals have been abused. Many have been abandoned — pregnant females dropped off at shelters because the owners don’t want to deal with the responsibility, shelters that have a high kill rate, that view these animals as nothing more than possessions.
There is a danger that they will be forgotten in this crisis, that the volunteers and fosters will be unable to continue their work, that people will stop donating, that there will be no one to help these helpless animals. We can’t let that happen.
Hank Kalet 