Covid Kitties and Pandemic Pups As the coronavirus crisis unfolded, Queen Villagers opened their homes—and hearts—to lost kittens and rescue dogs. by Suzanne Dreitlein
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ueen Village is a neighborhood that loves pets. Throughout the day, neighbors walk their dogs or stop by the dog run at Mario Lanza. Pass by front windows and you can see feline faces checking out the activity of the day and offering friendly meows to passers-by. There has been a dramatic increase in pet fostering and adoptions throughout Philadelphia during the coronavirus pandemic. Gillian Kocher, director of public relations and marketing at PSPCA, said, “With so many people staying at home, we saw a huge uptick in fosters stepping up to take animals home, even temporarily. We would normally see about 10 applications to foster in a week prior to COVID-19, but as the pandemic took hold we were receiving over 100 applications a day.” Kristine McKibban at Pet Snobs Boutique (641 South Street) says they are def-
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initely experiencing an increase in puppy grooming appointments. She volunteers at Street Tails Animal Rescue in Northern Liberties, which ran out of adoptable animals. Asked if the adoptions were impulse decisions or premeditated, she said most people were considering adopting and COVID-19 gave them a window of time to welcome a pet into their homes. Jen Sita recently moved to Queen Village when she read about a little black kitten crying under a car in front of Lucky’s Last Chance (848 South Second Street). Jen took the kitten in and started a GoFundMe to help with vet costs. Jen was still mourning the loss of her cat Teddy Roosevelt when Lucky came into her life. And although she normally adopts senior cats, she said, “I would never actively seek out a kitten, but I knew the shelters were closed and Lucky would have nowhere to go. So
