Can you pet a friend’s dog during the pandemic?

There has been a lot of confusion around what precautions to take for pets that may have been exposed to the virus that caused the pandemic. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) doesn’t have any evidence to suggest that companion animals, including pets, can spread the virus.

Should you isolate, quarantine, or separate a pet that lives in the homes of relatives or friends who have the virus?

Experts at the CDC recommend that for now, separation is recommended. There are several reasons for this:

isolation should be employed when the pet is sick and can transmit a un-diagnosed dog to dog disease, or
a quarantine is recommended when a pet has been exposed to a to the virus.

Any pet who meets either criteria should be quarantined for a period of time to see if it breaks with the disease.

However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that pets can pass on virus to humans.

Is cross-contamination possible?

There has been a case where two dogs and cat were found contaminated by their human owners who had Virus.
”A pet dog that contracted a "low-level" COVID-19 infection from its owner has now died, according to news reports. The owner has not allowed the dog to be autopsied, so the exact cause of death remains unknown.” according to an article in Livesicience

The 17-year-old Pomeranian first tested "weak positive" for the virus on February 28, and experts from the University of Hong Kong, City University and the World Organisation for Animal Health "unanimously agreed" that the test results reflected a plausible case of human-to-animal transmission, according to a South China Morning Post report published March 4.

No other reports are published at this time.

How would the Parents feel?

Separating pets from their owners during this difficult time would be emotionally detrimental for everyone. Ideally, pets can and should stay with their humans, while ensure they get plenty of enrichment.

Why should you separate fosters?

If the pets are brought in from a shelter, they are going through a transition period.

They recover from stress, frustration, they may lack on social skills. For this reason I recommend fosters should be kept away from the general pet population until they have been through proper assessment and have bonded with the care taker.

My advice:

I suggest you read my blog post about the first three weeks after adoption.

My recommendation: you DON’T pet dogs that are not yours during this time. If you just got a dog from a shelter, don’t let your new pet meet or make contact with other pets unless you wash the dog first, until it has been cleared by the vet or quarantined for at least 14 days.

Avoid dog parks; alternatively, take your dog for a walk while practicing #socialdistancing for yourself and your dog.

For dogs currently in shelters and foster care, Dr. Julie Levy recommends: “A separate run (ideally double-sided), roped off from the rest of the general population is adequate.”

How long will this pandemic last?

Without taking economics into consideration, Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., an expert in infectious diseases and vaccine development explains:

"Hopefully by the summer this is not going to be a huge problem, but we don't know," said Hotez. "And then we also don't know if this thing's coming back, so what do the out years look like? Even if it goes down in the summer, does it come back up again in the fall?"