NANAIMO — After more than two years of COVID precautions which closed their doors to the public, SPCA branches around B.C. have returned to their regular hours for public access and adoption viewing.
The change came on Oct. 1, and now potential pet adopters no longer have to do virtual meet-and-greets with an animal they want to adopt.
Animal care supervisor at the Nanaimo SPCA Katie Heagle said things will look very similar to how it was prior to the start of the pandemic.
“We have our cat adoption rooms that are available for people to come in and view our adoptable cats, along with our dog side as well, and our small animal room.”
While the public can access those rooms during their regular hours of Tuesday-Sunday from noon until 4 p.m., they must follow some COVID-19 safety protocols.
“The only thing is we are still asking people to mask when they are coming into the facility and are around the animals.”
Other areas of the Nanaimo SPCA office, like where animals are not ready to be adopted yet, are still closed off to the public.
Heagle said being able to see the animals in person is a huge advantage over just seeing a photo or video of them online.
“We are hoping that it will help with our adoption rates. Animals will go into a home sooner, find their families faster. We also have our store which is available to the public, we have our thrift area, so it’s a lot more accessible to everything we have.”
Their multi-purpose room is once again available for public use, as well as hosting kids classes and summer programs.
“It’s really great to see the community able to come in and enjoy all the things we have here.”
Throughout the pandemic, SPCA locations across the province saw a large increase in the need for their outreach programs.
In 2021, they helped more than 34,000 animals through pet food banks, provided 12,418 nights of free emergency boarding, and also supported more than 11,000 spay/neuter surgeries for homeless and community animals.
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