Puyallup animal rescue to reopen, but drastic changes necessary because of COVID pandemic
Sunny Sky’s Animal Rescue will reopen June 17 but look exceptionally different because of impacts of the coronavirus.
The Puyallup rescue center has lost its hospital and restructured the way it allows people to search for pets. Instead of housing animals at its facility at 1102 E. Main Ave., the shelter will disperse them to foster families.
“We will use foster homes for our available animals, and, during shelter hours, foster families will bring the animals to the shelter for viewing,” former employee Jessica Vendetti said.
Loss of revenue during the COVID-19 crisis caused the nonprofit to shut down its low-cost hospital, said Vendetti, who worked at the front desk for 12 years.
“We no longer have any staff and are fully operated by a volunteer team,” a statement on the organization’s site said.
The adoption center hours will be limited hours to Wednesdays and Saturdays noon to 5 p.m. Sunny Sky’s will hold adoption events, where foster pets can be taken home, and the building will become a meeting site for those wanting to adopt an animal.
If a pet isn’t working out or there is an emergency, kennels and shelter will be provided.
Once the foster network is set up, the building will hopefully be empty most of the time, Vendetti said.
There will be public health safety measures in place. Volunteers will wear masks. There will be hand-washing stations. Time with dogs will be outside in the yard away from others, and the queue will be out front with 6-foot markers to promote social distancing, Vendetti said.
Currently, the team is working to implement a pre-approval system to streamline the adoption process, meaning more time with the animals and less time filling out paperwork at the shelter.
There have been so many adoptions during the coronavirus, Vendetti said, there are fewer dogs and cats than normal. Sunny Sky’s still is caring for some dogs and several kittens that need homes.
The low-cost hospital served about 250 regular customers, Vendetti said. Before the pandemic, the Sunny Sky’s Animal Hospital covered much of the cost of sheltering dozens of dogs and cats.
“We aren’t a huge nonprofit with a backup, and we had to make a plan, but that process took longer than anticipated,” she said.
With about 800 adoptions a year, Vendetti said, things before the coronavirus were going well. The financial repercussions of the pandemic were sudden and changed everything.
“When we were hit, it felt huge and crushing. It was very heartbreaking,” Vendetti said. “All of this is new to us, and we were not prepared to make that change. We were very comfortable where we were.”
