A shelter in Fairfax County has seen a significant increase in adoptions since stay-at-home orders were issued. Despite shutting down the shelter’s in-house operations last month, it has fielded more than 300 email requests since mid-March from people looking to adopt. Amanda Novotny, the communications and outreach manager at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter said, “It seems like things are happening every day. It was astounding to see this huge uptick in numbers. Going from 20 a week to 300 in a month is pretty incredible."
The Fairfax County, Virginia, animal shelter recently paired Layla with an owner
According to wtop.com, "The shelter also just launched its new virtual adoption process, which finalized 26 adoptions in its first week. “We were pretty floored,” Novotny said. “Our staff has really risen to the occasion, and our adopters have been great. They’re super patient, super understanding.” Novotny said the shelter turned to what’s called a “no contact” process to complete the physical handover of pets. A series of emails, phone calls and in-person visits with social distancing are planned before taking the final step concerning the exchange of animals."
As per wtop.com, "So why the big surge lately? Novotny suspects it’s possibly linked to current coronavirus restrictions and guidelines, leaving people with more time to care for animals. “I think people just have more time at home and more time to think about maybe what might be missing in their family,” said Novotny. “I think people are just looking for companionship."
Maryam N. is a Senior Writer at Nesbitt Realty. She is an expert on Fairfax County. Maryam has also worked previously as a geologist. She is a foodie and enjoys cooking and exploring new restaurants.
