Employees Provide ‘Shelter-In-Place’ for Pets
In addition to wreaking havoc on families, communities and economies, the COVID-19 crisis has had a significant impact on U.S. animal shelters. Many shelters shut their doors as stay-at-home orders took effect. Also, fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have slowed the pace of pet adoptions and increased the number of surrendered pets.
To address these challenges, the nonprofit GreaterGood.org and NBCUniversal-owned television stations’ Clear The Shelters™ campaign created the #StayHomeAndFoster initiative to encourage fostering and adoptions.
StayHomeAndFoster.org connects people interested in fostering with one of about 700 animal shelters. The program placed about 30,000 pets in foster homes in its first few weeks. In keeping with social distancing, many shelters offer pet delivery or low-contact pick up.
“Nothing is more important to us than the health and wellbeing of animals,” said Randolph Legg, Head of Boehringer Ingelheim’s U.S. Animal Health Commercial Business. “We decided to sponsor this GreaterGood.org initiative as fostering a pet will help save a life and decrease the stress of both the pet and the person or family staying at home during this challenging time.”
A number of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health employees in the U.S. have recently lent a hand by fostering or adopting. Here are some of their stories.
‘There is something rather special about spending time with a dog…’
In March, as the scope of COVID-19 crisis became more apparent, Renee Hall began to think about families that were likely to experience financial stress and the impact that would have on the animal rescue network. Hall, who heads Boehringer Ingelheim’s U.S. equine business, volunteered to foster a pet in need of additional training and support. She soon picked up BellaRose, a three-year-old, 40-pound terrier mix.
“As an avid animal lover, I fostered many years ago, and have ongoing interest in fostering senior dogs, but the COVID-19 crisis brought the topic of fostering to the front of my mind, giving me a project and an animal to love as I help prepare it for a new life and permanent home with someone,” Renee said.
BellaRose loves walking and spending time with people and children. She is a little too interested in other dogs, but Renee is helping her improve those social skills.
“It is so nice to be able to dote on BellaRose, and to invest time in her training,” Renee said. “There is something rather special about spending time with a dog, and I so hope she finds the right person or family to love her.”
‘She was purring louder than I’ve ever heard any cat purr’
Equine sales rep Juliana Ryan had been contemplating taking on another pet, but she worried that traveling for work would make that difficult. When it became clear that the COVID-19 crisis would lead her to work from home, she reached out to a friend who volunteers at the Little Angels Rescue in Agoura Hills, Calif. Soon Benzi, a one-eyed cat, joined Juliana and Beau, her four-year-old border collie.
“This gentle, shy, one-eyed kitty kissed my nose the second I picked her up and she was purring louder than I’ve ever heard any cat purr,” Juliana said.
Benzi is a one-year-old domestic shorthair found as a stray in a car engine block. She had her right eye removed three weeks before Juliana adopted her, the result of an injury and recurrent infections causing permanent damage. Benzi has adapted to life with one eye incredibly fast. In the two weeks since she arrived at her permanent home, her personality and confidence have really blossomed, and she gets along perfectly with Beau.
A ‘professional foster mom’ fosters a 37th pet
Dr. Laura Pritzker, a Professional Services Veterinarian who covers Minnesota and part of Wisconsin, can add “professional foster mom” to her title, having fostered more than three dozen pets over the years. Her schedule on the road has traditionally – in her words – “limited” her ability to foster intermittently. After social distancing kept her home, though, she jumped in to lend a hand, and soon fostered two dogs: Clay and Squishy.
Clay, a 7 month-old puppy from Alabama, was Laura’s 37th foster pet; a family adopted Clay after Laura fostered the dog. She also agreed to foster 18-month-old Squishy, who will join a household that includes one cat and three dogs. All of the animals were rescues, and Laura fostered two of them.
‘… it seemed like the perfect time to bring in a foster’
Patty O’Guin works in vaccine production and supply at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health’s manufacturing plant in St. Joseph, Missouri. She hit the century-mark of sorts last September – and she’s still going strong.
Over the last decade, Patty and her family have fostered more than 100 pets. They volunteered again during the COVID-19 pandemic through the nonprofit Chain of Hope in Kansas City. Now they are fostering their 103rd dog, Eileen, a three-year-old pit mix with a playful, bubbly personality. Eileen loves playing with two dogs who already were living with Patty.
“I’m working from home, so it seemed like the perfect time to bring in a foster,” Patty said. “She brings us such joy and laughter with her antics, and along with our other dogs has been a huge stress relief for us during these uncertain times.”
Two dogs and a boyfriend accept her ‘crazy dog lady’ tendencies
Amy Gardner, a territory manager for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pet Vet business in West Texas, had fostered basset hounds in the past, and one even became a permanent member of the household. After she learned about the #StayHomeAndFoster campaign, she opened her mind -- and home -- to other breeds.
An area shelter she calls on as part of her job reached out with a request for help, and she took that as a sign to do something. Myra and Maverick, a one-year-old and 13-week old blue heeler mix, soon arrived at her doorstep. Despite their energy, they got along well with Amy’s older basset hounds, who are laid back and used to her fostering. Their stay was short, though, because they were soon adopted.
“It was a very quick transition and I honestly wasn’t ready to give them up,” Amy said. “It was a tough day for me when I had to drop them off. But I know they’re going to a great home where they will have all of the love and attention they deserve.”
The shelter asked if she could foster another dog. She said yes and returned home with April, a three-year old husky.
“I’m lucky that I have two dogs and a boyfriend who accept my ‘crazy dog lady’ tendencies,” she said. “That makes it easy to bring these guys into the house to get a break from the shelter.”
Helping a perpetual puppy with a very active tail
Mark Drits planned to adopt a rescue this year, but the COVID-19 crisis accelerated his timeline. Working from home provided a great opportunity to acclimate a new pet to his household, which already contained a cat.
Mark, a member of the commercial finance team based in Duluth, Georgia, reached out to the Atlanta Humane Society anticipating that the adoption centers would close as part of social distancing.
Within a week, Mark had adopted Nixon, a four-year-old, 19-pound perpetual puppy with a very active tail. Nixon settled right in and ignored the cat. Mark’s 10-year old daughter is more than happy to help Nixon burn off some energy playing in the backyard.
‘We get to see the happy ending when the animals are adopted’
Nicole Mumma, who works in the company’s Animal Health Quality organization in St. Joseph, Missouri, volunteers at the St. Joseph Animal Shelter. She has fostered adult dogs and a few litters of puppies over the years.
Walker, a hound mix and senior dog at the shelter, was not doing well in the kennel environment. Nicole learned of Walker from the shelter staff and from a volunteer group called Friends of the Animal Shelter.
Walker is a mellow dog that likes to hang out with “the pack” – the family’s existing dogs. He stays close to Nicole when he is not relaxing with the other dogs or hanging out near the kitchen when somebody is cooking.
“Fostering has been a great experience for my whole family. Although there is work involved, it is so rewarding to help an animal that wouldn’t otherwise have a home. My teenage sons really enjoy fostering and I think it has made us closer. And we get to see the happy ending when the animals are adopted,” Nicole said.
Visit www.stayhomeandfoster.org to learn how you can foster a shelter pet, too.