The Granny Rose Animal Shelter, like the one pictured here, is facing an uncertain future as a result of the coronavirus. | Silsbee Animal Control Web site
The Granny Rose Animal Shelter, like the one pictured here, is facing an uncertain future as a result of the coronavirus. | Silsbee Animal Control Web site
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting some of man's furry best little friends.
The Granny Rose Animal Shelter in Dixon is facing hardship due to the stay-at-home order. Most of the shelter is closed to the public and there are no volunteers scheduled through the end of the month which is when the stay-at-home order is in effect.
“[We’re] trying to do some adoptions with the applications online,” the shelter manager, Judy Lohse, told Sauk Valley. “We will try to schedule appointments where they will meet the pet and then, hopefully, get someone adopted. It’s hard. People are supposed to stay at home, so it’s a fine line. You want to get the pets adopted, but then it’s coming out of your home to adopt a pet.”
Shelter employees still have a job and they are responsible for cleaning and feeding the animals, but volunteers are the ones who usually walk the dogs and socialize with them. The Granny Rose Canine Enrichment Cente's training classes are also postponed because of the limits on the size of group gatherings.
The loss is striking. No money is coming in from adoptions or training classes. The shelter is also a boarding facility and will keep pets when owners go out of town, but no one's going out of town so that revenue is also lost.
“We’re just sitting and hoping somebody sends us some money to pay the bills,” Lohse told Sauk Valley.
The pet population is down a bit at Granny Rose, as they currently have 13 dogs and 17 cats which is down from the usual 18 to 20 dogs and more than 20 cats.
There are opportunities to foster, but Lohse said it has to be the right situation. She said a lot of the dogs she has right now don't get along well with other dogs. It's not really possible to place them with a foster family that has two other dogs.
The shelter will continue to operate but it is unknown how long they will be able to stay afloat.
Donations of food and litter can be dropped off at the shelter's entryway between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monetary donations can be made over the phone or mailed. More information can be found on their website.
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