Thank you for your continued support as we find our way through this unprecedented public health crisis. We hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. As you know, the Ottawa Humane Society (OHS) has implemented its emergency plan and continues to operate as an essential service in Ottawa, helping the animals throughout this crisis.

We've taken a number of additional steps to ensure that we continue to operate with our top priority being the safety of all OHS staff, volunteers, clients and animals. We continue to monitor announcements from the province and Ottawa Public Health and base our decisions on their recommendations.

Below is a list of temporary changes we've made to address the current crisis:

• All on- and off-site programming and events have now been suspended until May 4;
• The Shirley Kearns Memorial Adoption Centre remains closed;
• All on-site volunteer shifts have been suspended;
• Health and safety protocols, around cleaning and distancing measures, have been further enhanced onsite;
• All eligible animals are being sent to foster care and further changes have been made to foster department policies to minimize the frequency of appointments;
• Intake of new animals remains restricted exclusively to those in distress;
• An inventory of supplies has been taken and we have projected our needs for the coming weeks and months;
• Procedures have been developed to protect staff while caring for suspected COVID-19 exposed animals;
• All non-essential staff are now working from home.
• For foster volunteers, or any volunteer who has been on site recently, we continue to ask that you let us know if you, or anyone in your household, has tested positive for COVID-19.

As a result of the measures taken and the tremendous support of our foster volunteers, our situation remains stable:

• The shelter population and intake remain low;
• No staff have tested positive for COVID-19;
• We have sufficient supplies to care for animals for the coming weeks.

We are mindful of the fact that with the advent of spring, we would normally experience a steep increase in the numbers of animals admitted. We are grateful to our community for — so far — respecting our request to only bring animals that are in distress to the OHS, in order that we can accommodate those others that desperately need our care. In the meantime, we are attempting to prepare ourselves for any eventuality in a constantly changing environment.

All of us look forward to seeing you back at the OHS as soon as we are able to resume our regular programs and services.