For house pets whose owners are away at quarantine sites, a temporary home is offered to them at Laoximen Subdistrict in downtown Huangpu District.
In an empty house left behind by relocated households on Jiangyin Street, a small pet shelter has been furnished and welcomed its first fluffy friend, 5-year-old Labrador Timi.
This is the first animal shelter of this kind ever found in Shanghai since the latest outbreak of the pandemic.
Timi lives in Menghua Street with his owner, who recently tested positive for COVID-19 and has been transported to a makeshift hospital.
Before finding the shelter, Timi was being fostered at the local residents’ committee.
The pet shelter was established by the subdistrict, with the help of a pet clinic called Babara Vet and animal care volunteers of a pet shop called Sansan. Both the clinic and shop are located in the subdistrict.
“Some residents are reluctant to be transported to quarantine sites right out of anxiety about the fate of their fluffy friends, and my heart aches for the animals who are left unattended,” said Zhai Jiang, owner of Babara Vet.
When the subdistrict contacted him and suggested establishing a pet shelter, Zhai agreed immediately, the media center of Huangpu District reported on Sunday.
Services provided at the shelter are free.
Animals are fed twice a day, and their caretakers also play with them and soothe them when they look sad.
Zhai said the animals will be effectively disinfected once they arrive at the shelter, and the whole space of the shelter will be disinfected every day.
Volunteers are put on duty in a tent outside the shelter to help take care of the pets.
The shelter is comprised of two rooms and can hold 40 dogs and 10 cats, but it accepts only pets from families with quarantined caretakers in this subdistrict.
Interested residents can call their residents’ committee for more information about the shelter.