Blog
It’s hard to believe we are past the two-month mark since we at Joint Animal Services and many other organizations, had to make the difficult decision to close our doors to the general public and learn how to navigate a world with COVID-19.
I have been so proud of the way our staff and foster homes have handled this uncertain and ever-changing time, maintaining a steadfast commitment to ensuring the health and welfare needs of the animals who depend on us.
It is vital that as we prepare to relaunch our programs and services, we continue to keep our staff and volunteers healthy so that we can be here for the animals.
This is why we will be taking a thoughtful and measured approach to our staged relaunch, with the following principles guiding every decision:
- Staff and volunteer health and safety
- Animal welfare
- Community health
We know people are eager to return to a sense of normalcy in their lives with their pets – we are too. But we also recognize that if we rush to open, we could jeopardize the health of our staff and greater community. Although we’re prepared to be flexible, we want to avoid having to go backwards at any point, which could compromise the care of our shelter animals who have nowhere else to turn.
Staff will continue to be available by phone Tue-Fri 8-5:30 and Sat 8-4. Beginning June 2nd, 2020 Joint Animal Services will be open by appointment during our regular business hours: Tue-Fri 9:30-5:30 and Sat 9:30-4 for the following services:
- Adoption
- Licensing
- Stray Drop Off
- Reclaim
- Owner Surrender
- Owner Requested Euthanasia
Field Service Officers will address calls and complaints 7 days a week from 8:30am- 5:30pm.
To learn more about ways to donate, please go to https://jointanimalservices.org/donate/. Critical items can also be purchased directly from the Shelter’s Amazon Wish List and shipped directly to Animal Services. Please note that we are only able to accept unopened bags of food at this time.
For information about local impacts of coronavirus on humans and guidance for keeping yourself and others healthy, please follow the dedicated page on the Thurston County Health Department website: https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/phss/Pages/coronavirus.aspx.
