FARMINGTON – As the pandemic carries on, the need for connection at home continues to grow. For some, the issue has been solved with the help of the Franklin County Animal Shelter.
Over the summer pet adoptions and sales across the country boomed, according to the Washington Post. With people working from home and unable to get out the desire for animal companionship grew. As a result, shelters and breeders saw a huge spike in demand.
The Franklin County Animal Shelter has seen an increase in adoption rates, as well as a reduction in animals. The shelter mainly relies on transports from rescue shelters in the south for dogs.
“We have a couple rescues down south, like Mississippi, Alabama that pull from kill shelters and they transport them north to us, but with everything with Covid the state kind of put a halt on that for a little while,” said Kaylene Huff, the Front End Supervisor and Media Coordinator at the Franklin County Animal Shelter.
Even though the transports are up and running again, the numbers still are not as high as they were.
“We used to be able to pull 10-15 dogs at a time and now the highest transport we’ve had since last March was about six dogs,” said Huff.
Farmington resident Meg Willing just adopted a second dog, seeing the 12-week-old chocolate doodle Walter as a benefit to everyone in the house, including her 15-year-old mini poodle Mousse.
“I think the pandemic has asked us all to connect more fully with our sense of home, which means different things for different people. Maybe that’s baking bread or learning to knit a sweater or reading a new book series or nostalgia watching Dawson’s Creek. Animal companionship is something that’s deeply interwoven to my sense of home, so that seemed like a natural choice for me,” wrote Willing.
Pet adoptions aren’t for everyone though. Huff advises anyone looking to adopt to really make sure they have the available time and should take into account how much time they will have when the pandemic ends.
“Right now you’re home, but that can cause issues once you start going back to work with separation anxiety. All of a sudden you’re not there anymore which your pet has kind of gotten used to,” said Huff. “There are certain variables you need to take into account before you go down that road.”
With that said anyone with any interest in scheduling an appointment can reach the Franklin County Animal Shelter at 778-2638.
