A Niagara-area animal agency began its first-ever virtual adoption process on Wednesday to find homes for 12 rescue dogs amid social-distancing rules due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Welland and District SPCA began the online adoption with a two-month-old husky-lab mix puppy– one of several rescued from northern Manitoba during a large transfer operation in early March.
Executive director of the Niagara SPCA & Humane Society John Greer told Global News in a statement the move to online adoptions was to discourage unnecessary travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Normally this would be much different for any other adoption drive but ‘normal’ has not been the order of the day for some time,” said Greer.
Greer says there will be a limited number of applications accepted each day for the virtual adoptions and says applicants should think about the 15-plus-year commitment related to a typical adoption.
Successful applicants will be contacted by email and a virtual meeting will be set up to greet their new addition to their family.
The SPCA says when the adoption is finalized, the puppy will be brought to their new home by a team member utilizing social-distancing protocols.
The Welland SPCA has information on the adoptions at its website.