BRICK – The news has been filled with stories about “pandemic puppies” from animal shelters in Newark, Trenton, and the inner cities who were begging the public to foster animals that had been adopted during the pandemic and then returned when their owners no longer had time to care for them.
“What happened to us is not the same as your open-intake shelters,” said Executive Director of Jersey Shore Animal Center Laura Fasinski. “Those are the shelters we actually pull from – the overcrowded New Jersey shelters, the New York City shelters. One of the most crowded we pull from on a regular basis is the Southern Regional Animal Shelter in Vineland.”
That’s not to say the Brick animal center was unaffected by the public health crisis.
“Financially, it’s been very challenging,” Fasinski said. “The lack of fundraisers – we rely on donors and many of the donors didn’t have work or lost their jobs. It’s just been very difficult.”
The staff held online auctions, but that didn’t bring in the money that was raised with the annual in-person gift auction or 5K race.
The center’s spay/neuter clinic was shut down in March 2020, while all medical offices had to report their PPE (personal protective equipment) inventory to the state. In many cases, the state would take it and send it to hospitals.
Their on-site thrift shop, The Bow-Wow Boutique, was also shut down, which removed another revenue source for the center.
The paid staff, which numbers around 15, had to learn to do things differently, Fasinski said. For example, the dog adoptions were outside “meet-and-greets,” weather permitting, with everyone wearing masks and social-distancing.
A limited number of people were allowed into the building for cat adoptions, and for a limited amount of time. “We never skipped a beat,” she said.
“Our team are essential workers,” Fasinski said. “We have to be here – we have live beings here.”
Adoptions did increase during the pandemic, but the center only pulls in as many animals as they can find homes for, she said. “We know our limitations – we don’t house as many animals as we could.”
At any given time, Jersey Shore Animal Center has 20 dogs and 40 cats up for adoption, but they can and have taken in more.
It has not been advertised, but the center just recently had a soft re-opening, and its doors are once again open to the public.
There has not been an uptick in people returning animals since restrictions have lifted, Fasinski said. “We experienced the same returns that we normally would, which is thankfully very low.”
She credits this low return rate to the staff doing their best to carefully place them in forever homes.
Fasinski said that some of the animals are “kennel stressed,” and are nervous about seeing new faces after not seeing anyone but staff for more than a year.
Donations are way down, she said, so the animal center welcomes donations and gift cards from Petco, Petsmart and Amazon. To view their wish list visit jerseyshoreanimalcenter.org
“We are a little shelter doing big things,” Fasinski said.
