Pets and shelters are under pandemic pressure — but we all can help

Photo: Flickr/Mike Mozart

Adopting a pet during COVID, can be challenging. The isolation felt by those who are on their own each and every day, with no children or no spouse/partner, can impact ones mental/emotional health, elevating anxieties about things that previously were of no real consequence. A pet companion is often just the prescription necessary to restore a sense of balance, a sense of normal to the day-to-day of navigating the COVID life.

I  had to say good-bye to a geriatric dog during the pandemic; I then went on to bring  a new puppy into my home during a pandemic. I must have lost my mind!  The challenge of pet loss during COVID was stressful because I didn’t know if I could be with Mr. Digby, the 17 year old Australian Silky  Terrier who crossed Rainbow Bridge on 5 June 2020. Thankfully, I was able to attend as he drew his last breath.

Mr. Malcolm, the now 8 month old Havanese terrier, took over at Chez Rockwell at 8 weeks. Life as I knew it would change forever. He was introduced to the crate his very first night  and so began his routine of learning the way of things with a geriatric Maltese showing him how it’s to be done. During COVID, he received all required vaccinations, was neutered and had a dewclaw removed. We both survived and thrive.

I’ve always stuck closely to a daily routine so have not been particularly impacted COVID isolation though I do empathize with those who are struggling with a severely curtailed social connection. That has to be frustrating beyond measure. Work at home has become the norm for so many and the adjustment to change of place to do the business required to earn their daily bread demands a commitment to changing course and sticking to it — at least for the foreseeable future. That’s the way of the world in these COVID times.  Many work-at-home men and women, both young and old, have made or are making the decision to adopt a pet. Strict adherence to routine is critical to house training. Mr. Malcolm is 99% reliable.

Sadly, some people who are really struggling with  significant change in circumstance are finding themselves having to make decisions about pets they already have. Diminished financial health alters how one may view status of pets and their own happiness. Many are anxious about ability to properly care for pets with less funds, sometimes believing, often erroneously, that surrendering is what’s best for the dog or cat. Sadly, what that does is increase the burden on animal shelters, many of which will not euthanize healthy animals, given their goal is to  place them in safe, permanent homes. Key concern is food — kibble and canned food that covers all age ranges of cats and dogs, rabbits, and other small, caged pets.

Animal shelters are struggling to meet the demands of costs associated with food, supplies and regular vet care, relying on donations of goods and cash. Their needs don’t suddenly stop because of COVID — animals still need to be fed and kept safe. As we are able, it’s important for us to do our part to ensure that local shelters are kept up and running and those creatures in their care will have their daily needs met. Many who have lost jobs or are living on considerably reduced incomes are burdened on several fronts and it’s  important as part of our compassionate care of community that we contribute what we can, when we can. 

As we learned about COVID and its impact on our daily lives there were reports that dogs could transmit the virus. That finding turned out to be inconclusive but people were afraid, surrendering pets and burdening shelters. Some were simply dumping their pets, left to free roam, posing community risk and increasing costs associated to rounding them up and ‘doing’ something about them. Once animals with loving homes, they were street prey or predator. Sad.

One way people are demonstrating their compassionate care is the number of pet food banks that are  cropping up across the country, often located in supermarkets. Perhaps there is need for one in your area. A group of like minded friends, in consultation with local shelters and vets would do much to alleviate pet care concerns for so many, especially seniors who have relied for years on the companionship of their Fluffy or Scamp. It might be worth a call to your local supermarket to see if you and a group of friends could set up a pet food collections and donation kiosk. 

So, sit. Stay. Call some friends to organize a pet food drive. 

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, the boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell

Take a stand against COVID skeptics

 

Photo: David Koch/Times Transcript

With each passing day, after months of COVID rules, being told what to do and how to do it, we’re exhausted by all of it. So agitated are some that they ‘act out’ online with outlandish views about the virus. I often wonder if some of the verbose virus deniers are doing it deliberately to see how far they can go with their envelope pushing before they’re kicked off whatever social platform they’re using.

On the other side are those men and women who are functioning in ways that are dangerous, with some taking their vile rhetoric to such extremes that their behaviour has become threatening. Policing authorities are stepping up presence at know targets as COVID deniers threatening hospital workers in on the rise — truly scary. Scarier still is that they’re showing up at hospitals and endangering those who are seeking care and comfort. That must not be tolerated and people need to speak up when they see it. To say nothing is to go along with the behaviour.

We want health care workers to be kept safe and to feel safe so that they can do what they’re trained to do as they protect and serve their communities. It defies logic that there is so much rage when compassion and empathy should be at the forefront of our interactions, both at home, in our circle, our bubble, and also when we’re out and about conducting the business of our daily lives.

Domestic violence is on the rise, child abuse is on the rise and animal abuse cases are increasing. Pet surrender has increased as owners, especially the elderly, are finding they can no longer afford to care for their companions. COVID isolation has triggered behaviours in so many people who are taxed beyond their emotional endurance, driving them to behave in ways that they wouldn’t have previously considered. Are their minds so disturbed that they will, day after day, spew venom  at total strangers, both on and offline? They have to know that what they are doing is potentially criminal in nature. Why can’t that reality be enough to stop them? To me, their own fear is palpable and they’d benefit from seeking help.

Here in Canada, the influence of American television programing and press is pervasive, with many Americans being perceived as arrogant and unbending with no regard for the down trodden. How can that be in times such as these when everyone is in the same proverbial boat? COVID has become the great equalizer; it doesn’t discriminate. Why then, are we so intent on being negative, oppositional, obstructionist. When we don’t act for the public good, we ultimately diminish ourselves. Few people give thought to that byproduct of negative behaviour.

Being a bit selfish for moment — for quite some time, I’ve been the beneficiary of weekly physiotherapy sessions through the New Brunswick Extra-Mural program. I registered with them when my husband died in 2007 and their presence, even on a sporadic basis kept me connected to the world beyond my four walls as they could report my progress to those on my care team who monitor my health and wellness. Though I’ve had only one situation that included one of their nurses, my ongoing need is related to aging with cerebral palsy and maintenance of mobility given I am home alone, without benefit of any other human being at Chez Rockwell. So far, COVID has not interrupted visits. During recent calls, my physiotherapist has worn a gown and shoe covers along with the usual gloves and mask. He and his colleagues are essential workers and the services they provide go well beyond just improving mobility or changing dressings of those house-bound persons who are recovering from any number of health situations that impact wellness. They have opportunity to do fuller assessment via well chosen lifestyle questions given senior isolation is a huge concern across the health care community.

Those who continue to be mask-defiant, dismissive of the rules or combative when someone is trying to enforce the  rules of COVID are being selfish. Whether they realize it or not, their behaviour sends a message to all - that they don’t care about anyone beyond themselves —  even their elderly grandmother who relies in visiting nurses to monitor cardiac function, or their uncle who needs wound care or the young nephew new to a disability that is permanent. Such thoughtlessness keeps all of us locked in the COVID spin cycle while those essentially having an attention-seeking temper tantrum are heard.  To them, I say - “grow up!”. To defeat COVID, communities must care more. About everyone!

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, the boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell