SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The Coronavirus Pandemic has had an unexpectedly positive effect on the Helen Woodward Animal Center, as pet adoptions have doubled over the past week.
"This is a fabulous time to bring animals into your home," says Jessica Gercke, the spokesperson for the HWAC.
Gercke says the Center has seen a surge in people applying for adoption and fostering because they're working from home, and have more time to integrate a new pet into the family.
"We're seeing a lot of teachers and graduate students," says Gercke, noting that many had planned to wait until summer break, but moved up their adoptions because of the extra time at home.
That's what led Anna Fairman, a Carlsbad Kindergarten teacher, to adopt last Thursday. She took home a new dog, Archie.
"I had had this plan that I was gonna adopt a dog at the beginning of this summer so that I could obviously have time to spend with the dog and train it," she says. "Now, just seemed like the perfect time."
The HWAC is doing its part to keep the adoptions as safe as possible. They're only letting one person in at a time, with appointments set up in advance. Each person is allowed to interact with up to three animals to decide which one to take home.
For fostering, the HWAC is doing video chat calls to inspect the homes of people wishing to foster and make sure they're safe and appropriate for the pets. They're also doing online training for potential foster families.
"We're seeing this beautiful, beautiful love that animals give to us," says Gercke. "It lowers blood pressure. It keeps our spirits lifted. They provide us unconditional love and comfort and calm in really scary times."
To begin the adoption or fostering process, go to animalcenter.org.
