04/06/2020
COVID-19 Update 4/16/20: DCHS Continues to be an Essential Community Resource
Thank you for supporting the DCHS team as we have made so many operational changes to keep providing high-quality care for our animals while protecting our staff and community's health. Please take comfort knowing our animals are still receiving the love and care they deserve from our dedicated staff.
We are pleased to share Wisconsin animal shelters like DCHS have been included as "Essential" in the Safer at Home order that starts March 25, 2020. DCHS will continue to offer adjusted services and be present as a resource for our community. See below for the most up-to-da​te, detailed instructions on how to access our services. Through these uncertain times, DCHS will be here to help our community's people and animals.
As always, DCHS continues to be an adoption guarantee shelter. All healthy or treatable animals, even now, can stay with us as long as they need to find a home! For more information, see the Intake section below to learn how we are working to slow the rate of animals entering the shelter to match the new adoption process. Thank you to our existing foster networks and our community for supporting us through these changes.
DCHS Thrift Store-closed effective Tuesday, March 17 until further notice. Please keep your generous donations until we can reopen to accept them. When we reopen, it will be in our new location at 6904 Watts Road in Madison, across from Woodman's West!
DCHS Main Campus-closed, except by appointment effective Tuesday, March 17 until further notice.
Appointments may be made for one of the following reasons:
-to meet or pick up an animal for adoption,
-to surrender an animal, to pick up your found animal, or
-to bring in wildlife pre-approved by our Wildlife Center staff.
-to bring in a stray animal
We are expecting a heavy call volume at a time when we anticipate reduced staffing levels, so please be patient and leave a voice mail message. We will return your call as soon as we are able.
VISITOR GUIDELINES
Visitors to our facility are asked to use hand sanitizer and wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of any illness.
In addition, we ask you not visit the facility if you:
-Had direct contact with anyone who has been confirmed to have COVID-19 or visited a high risk area within the past 14 days.
-Have a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, including older people and people of all ages with severe underlying health conditions.
-Feel sick, especially if you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing or any flu-like symptoms within the past 14 days.
ADOPT
If you are able, now is a great time to adopt! If you are home for a couple weeks or more, this may be just the right time to introduce a new animal to your household. Please visit our website to see our currently available animals (updated every 15 minutes). If you are interested in a specific animal, please call our adoption center at (608) 838-0413 ext. 145. Leave a message about which animal(s) you are interested in and we’ll return your call as soon as we’re available to see if the animal is a good match and to set up an appointment for you to meet them at the shelter. We are receiving dozens of calls a day, so please be patient.
INTAKE
Our goal is to further reduce the remaining animals in our facility so we can reduce the number of people needed to care for the animals with us. We urge anyone considering surrendering an animal to keep it if at all possible; we will be maintaining a waitlist for people who we will contact once we are open for non-emergency surrenders again. We may be able to help you with resources to hold your pet temporarily as well as offer resources for rehoming. If you find a stray, please hold onto the animal if possible and leave us a voicemail. We will check our lost animal reports and attempt to reunite the animal with its owner without it needing to come into our facility. Also, we have stopped our intake of animals via transfer from other shelters.
CHANGES TO OTHER PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Cancelled: Camp Pawprint Day Camp on April 27, ALL volunteer shifts, April and May Volunteer Orientation, April and May Dog Training classes
Suspended through at least May 26: tours and presentations, corporate volunteer experiences, euthanasia for pets owned by the public, thrift store, Mounds Satellite Adoption Centers, Mounds adoption events, item donations
Rest assured, our team has plans in place to make sure DCHS animals are cared for in the event of an emergency.
DCHS NEEDS
In addition to adopters, our greatest need is for monetary donations to provide critical care for our community’s animals at this time.
Please donate online or mail your check to DCHS, 5132 Voges Road, Madison, WI 53718.
Regrettably, due to COVID-19 transmission concerns, we are not able to accept item donations at this time. Please hold onto those items until we can reopen.
DCHS has an extensive foster network and at this time, we are not in need of additional foster homes. If you are interested in being a long-term foster (after is lifted), please visit our foster page to learn more and apply.
WILDLIFE CENTER
The DCHS's Wildlife Center is continuing to accept new wildlife patients in need of rehabilitation by appointment only. Please be sure to CALL FIRST to schedule an appointment to 608-287-3235. Please visit our Wildlife Center's COVID-19 guidelines for full details if you have found wildlife needing help at: https://www.giveshelter.org/news/wildlife-center-procedures-during-covid-19
CARING FOR OWNED PETS DURING COVID-19
By creating a preparedness plan ahead of time for the unlikely event it becomes necessary to put into motion, community members can do their part to ensure DCHS and other area animal service resources do not become overwhelmed and spare your pet from unnecessary stress. Learn more here: https://www.giveshelter.org/news/planning-for-your-pet-during-covid-19
