Heroes for animals
Amid the pandemic, hundreds of volunteers step up to help shelters with unwanted pets.
In May, as the coronavirus began clamping down on Houston, lawyer Laura Arguijo learned about a litter of puppies staying at BARC, Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. The littlest one wasn’t doing well.
The noise and commotion were too much for him. He needed a quiet, nurturing place — a home.
Arguijo didn’t hesitate to take them in — turning her bedroom into a nursery for Tori, a Staffordshire terrier named after Queen Victoria, and her five babies, Belfast, Edinburgh, London, Cardiff and Dublin.
Arguijo had been fostering animals for BARC for nearly two years, but it was the first time she’d cared for puppies. Normally, her job would have made it impossible to give the young dogs the attention they needed. But like many, Arguijo was working from home — and looking for a way to help the area’s animal shelters as they navigate new challenges created by COVID-19 and a deepening economic crisis.
“Sometimes, there’s not much we can do about the big world outside,” Arguijo told the editorial board. “But we can do this.”
Heroes abound during this pandemic, and those Houstonians going out of their way to help our furry friends deserve recognition, too.
Since March, shelters have been grappling with an influx of unwanted animals and emergency calls, all while social distancing rules have made adoptions more difficult.
Thankfully, hundreds of volunteers such as Arguijo are fostering, adopting and helping animals find homes.
Their efforts are helping more than the animals. The pandemic has put an added strain on BARC and other shelters during their busiest time of year. They have had to stagger staffing to meet social distancing practices, limiting the capacity for housing and accepting animals — just as job losses and layoffs were causing some owners to give up or abandon pets.
Julie Kuenstle, spokeswoman for the Houston SPCA, told the Houston Press in July that animal abandonment calls had risen more than 20 percent and the number of calls for a 24-hour injured animal rescue ambulance had doubled during the pandemic.
For their part, local shelters have responded quickly and creatively to the new demands. They’re holding virtual meet-and-greets to encourage adoptions. Setting up appointments and contact-free curbside services for people picking up pets. Holding drives for pet food and supplies for families experiencing financial hardship.
“In the beginning, no one quite knew what we were into so it was every day there was a new challenge,” said Lara Cottingham, chief of staff of the city of Houston’s Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department and chief sustainability officer. “Now we’ve settled into this new normal, we have learned things citywide.”
The dexterity with which BARC and others, including the county’s shelter, Harris County Pets, the Houston SPCA and Best Friends Animal Society, have adjusted to the new demands has likely kept strays off the street, allowed the animals in shelters to be better cared for, and helped families in dire straits keep beloved pets. At a time when crises seem to hit in every direction, those are no small victories.
BARC and other shelters must always contend with issues of capacity. There are only so many animals they can take in safely, only so many that can stay in a shelter without risking spread of illness and emotional depletion.
“Every day there are more and more animals that get brought to the shelter,” Cottingham said. “So the No. 1 thing people can do is to help us adopt, rescue, foster those animals, and help them find their forever homes.”
In this crisis, as in previous times of need, Houstonians have risen to the occasion. A sharp increase in the number of people asking to foster and a massive response from local rescue groups have helped ease the burden.
For Arguijo, who has fostered 39 animals since 2018, the effort is more than worth it. She believes that taking in Tori and her five pups almost certainly saved the life of the runt of the litter, who was not thriving in the shelter.
After coming to Arguijo’s house, little Belfast quickly began to improve. The puppies have all since been adopted and Arguijo is trying to match Tori to the right owner.
“So often, in life we don’t get a chance to know that we touched another life,” she said. “In fostering, you know you are giving these homeless animals a home, seeing them blossom and go on to amazing adopted families.”
The need for fostering, adoption and donations to help struggling families care for pets continues and will go on long after the pandemic. We encourage those who are able to join the legions of animal lovers giving of their time, their resources and their homes during this public health crisis, and after it ends. It makes a difference.