The Utah Humane Society’s clinic is being used for emergencies only after Gov. Gary Herbert ordered the stop of all non-urgent medical, dental and veterinary procedures in an effort to preserve protective gear for treatment of Covid-19.
“It’s been a new challenge every day,” Deann Shepard, Dir. Marketing and Communications Utah Humane Society, said.
The clinic is one of the main sources of funding for the non-profit aside from fundraising. Right now, the clinic can only accept emergency cases. While it is difficult, the staff said they all understand.
“They are procedures that are okay to put off for a few months, especially in the face of this outbreak where we need to be putting human life kind of in the forefront,” Dr. Timna Fischbein, DVM, Utah Humane Society Shelter Vet, said.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic and changes that have followed, the Utah Humane Society had three full-time and three part-time veterinarians and 12 veterinarian technicians. Now, the clinic employs one of each.
“We had to say goodbye to some co-workers yesterday. That’s a really, really hard thing to do,” Dr. Fischbein said.
Despite the challenges and hardships, those at the non-profit are remaining positive.
“The silver lining to the crisis that we are experiencing is to see how much of a response our community has shown. People are still coming in to adopt, they’re more than willing to foster animals in their homes and they are still making donations,” Shepard said.
People must make an appointment before visiting the shelter to meet any animals.
For more information on how you can help the Utah Humane Society, click here.
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