COVID-19 – Nathan J. Winograd

Study: Community Cats and Shelter Cats Are Not Carriers & Pose No Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

By Nathan J. Winograd | April 12, 2021April 12, 2021 by Nathan J. Winograd

It is time to close the book on concerns about COVID-19 transmission vis-a-vis dogs and cats. Despite a year of alarmist headlines, here is what we know, based on peer-reviewed studies: Dogs are highly resistant to COVID-19 and in the rare chance they do get it from a COVID-19 positive person in their household, they cannot transmit it to other dogs, other animal companions, or people because they are dead-end hosts. Cats and a number…

The CDC dials it in for pets

By Nathan J. Winograd | March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 by Nathan J. Winograd

The Centers for Disease Control has recently issued guidance on care of pet dogs and cats in the age of COVID-19 and it has led to a number of news articles about it. Unfortunately, that guidance is — I want to say — a bit bonkers, but “bonkers” isn’t a word I normally use in articles, preferring more sober language. It is, though. And I say this as someone who always wears a mask outside,…

Articles COVID-19

Walking your dog does NOT increase the risk of COVID-19

By Nathan J. Winograd | November 20, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

A new study in the Journal of Environmental Research claims that “People who reported walking their pets had a higher estimated prevalence of COVID-19 compared to those who did not take their pet for a walk.” How much more? The study authors claim that dog walking increases your risk of getting COVID-19 by 78%. There’s only one problem: it is not true. But that hasn’t stopped it from being repeated by media outlets with alarming…

Articles COVID-19

Lawsuit: L.A. Animal Services Illegally Turning Animals Away

By Nathan J. Winograd | August 31, 2020August 31, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

An animal rescue group has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, its pound system, the City’s mayor, and the General Manager of the pound for failing to take in stray and injured animals. It claims that animals are being turned away in two ways. First, by closing two of the city’s six shelters. Second, by often failing to accept them at the other four, using the pandemic as the excuse. According to…

Articles COVID-19

The Coming Eviction Crisis?

By Nathan J. Winograd | August 13, 2020August 13, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

As I have reported repeatedly over the last several months, progressive shelters in progressive communities are rising to the challenged posed by the pandemic by embracing ingenuity, a “can do” attitude, and technology to save the animals. And thanks to an overwhelming response by the public, these shelters have placed record numbers of dogs, cats and other animals and many are finding themselves empty for the first time in their history. As the economic fallout…

Articles Corruption COVID-19

Salt Lake County Animal Services Tells Finder to Abandon Blind, Sick, Pregnant Cat Found Walking in Circles

By Nathan J. Winograd | July 15, 2020July 15, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

Although they deny it, Austin Animal Center (in Texas) has been telling people to release stray dogs where they are found because they are not taking them in. When it was caught on video and made public, the pound director claimed it was a misunderstanding and issued a statement that he was “disappointed” in staff. But the staff member seen in the video telling the Good Samaritan with the young dog to “let her go…

Articles Corruption COVID-19

Austin Shelter Director Proposal to Close Doors to Healthy Strays Permanently is D.O.A.

By Nathan J. Winograd | June 22, 2020February 11, 2022 by Nathan J. Winograd

The pandemic has revealed both the tremendous progress we have made in animal sheltering practices and exposed some alarming deficiencies. Many communities rose to the challenge by embracing ingenuity, a “can do” attitude, and technology to save the animals, and, as a result, “placed record numbers of dogs, cats and other animals.” Others turned their backs on animals by closing their doors. The former includes communities like Rosenberg, TX, which continued operating as an essential…

Articles Corruption COVID-19

When “Community Sheltering” Means No Sheltering

By Nathan J. Winograd | June 19, 2020June 25, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

We’ve made tremendous progress as a movement, but not only is there still a long way to go, some communities are moving in the wrong direction. The Solano County Grand Jury recently issued a report recently after doing an inspection of the county shelter. Jurors found “evidence of rodent infestation with rat/mouse droppings in the living environment of the confined animals. In addition, the majority of the cages of the confined stray dogs were so…

Articles COVID-19

New SARS-CoV-2 study shows that dogs do NOT shed the virus.

By Nathan J. Winograd | June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

As such, there is no mode of transmission either to other dogs, to other animals, or to people. I am at a loss here. I worry about people taking actions to compromise the welfare of dogs, cats, and other animals as the USDA announces positive dog and cat tests of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. So I post about studies that prove that animals are highly resistant, show few (if any) clinical symptoms, develop…

Articles COVID-19

USDA: First “Confirmed” U.S. Dog to Test Positive for SARS-CoV-2

By Nathan J. Winograd | June 4, 2020June 6, 2020 by Nathan J. Winograd

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, announced a confirmed case of the virus that causes COVID-19 in a dog. According to the USDA, this is “the first dog in the United States to test positive for SARS-CoV-2.” The agency was silent as to whether the dog had any kind of underlying condition prior to infection, but it did state that there is no evidence of dogs passing the virus…