Cats & “Shelter in Place” – Alley Cat Allies Statement

BETHESDA, Md. – March 27, 2020 – As states and local governments announce “Shelter in Place” and “Stay at Home” restrictions due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Alley Cat Allies is assuring community cat caregivers that they can and should continue to feed their colonies.

“We have read nothing in any of the orders issued by various jurisdictions that prohibit on-going care and feeding of community cats,” said Becky Robinson, president and founder of Alley Cat Allies. “To discontinue care and feeding to which the cats have grown accustomed would be to put them in grave danger.”

Alley Cat Allies recommends that cat caregivers carry on with their care and feeding routines so long as the caregiver is:

1. Not infected with or experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus
2. Not under mandatory quarantine for exposure to a person with the coronavirus
3. Maintaining appropriate social distancing guidelines from other people

Cat caregivers should follow safety tips and instructions provided by local health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to keep themselves safe and reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Robinson also urged caregivers who are unwell or under quarantine to reach out to friends or local Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) groups for help to check on and feed community cats under their care.

Both the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) report seeing no evidence thus far of transmission of the novel coronavirus from humans to cats. Furthermore, the CDC says it has no evidence that companion animals, including pets, can spread COVID-19 or that they might be a source of infection.