Seattle Humane donates personal protective equipment

Seattle Humane donated its supplies

In response to a local call-to-action – echoed around the world – Seattle Humane has coordinated a donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) to WA Supplies Save Lives. This donation of medical suits, gowns, gloves, surgical masks, and other PPE was collected on Wednesday, March 25, for distribution to health care facilities around the state, which are struggling with a shortage of safety equipment.

Health care professionals, including hospital workers and first responders, remain on the front lines of the COVID-19 response, providing urgent care to a growing number of patients who have contracted or are displaying symptoms of this deadly viral infection.

Seattle Humane, located in Bellevue, closed its doors to the public on March 7 in order to help flatten the coronavirus curve and moved roughly 190 shelter animals into foster homes. The not-for-profit animal shelter recently concluded all of its scheduled surgeries, and will now only be providing basic care for those pets in foster via telemedicine and urgent/emergency care as needed.

“We’re saving some gear for our clinic so we can be equipped in case of any emergencies or if an animal in foster becomes sick,” said Seattle Humane Medical Director Jessica Reed. “Most of our donations are disposable personal protective equipment, and we are still well-stocked on reusable gowns and other supplies. 

"We can also use fabric masks, as our medical staff cover their faces to ensure the health of the animals they are working on, and not the other way around.”

Seattle Humane continues to provide support to its network of foster families, who are providing shelter animals with plenty of care and attention during the shelter’s closure to the public.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is having widespread impacts around the globe, as well as right here in our own backyard. Seattle Humane has been looking for multiple opportunities to continue supporting our community during our public closure,” said Seattle Humane interim CEO Paula Littlewood.

“We were overjoyed to find that we had the capacity to provide this life-saving personal protective equipment to the medical professionals who are putting their own health at risk every day to help those impacted by the coronavirus while still being able to meet the needs of our shelter staff and the animals in their care.”

Seattle Humane’s PPE donation includes:

• 350 Tyvek suits
• 300 reusable gowns
• 10 boxes of shoe covers
• 1,200 surgical masks, including three boxes of masks with face shields
• 4 boxes of bouffant caps/hair covers

All employees able or wishing to work from home are continuing to support the not-for-profit’s mission of saving lives and completing families remotely, and Seattle Humane’s adoption team continues to handle calls from people wishing to adopt shelter pets so animals can be placed in homes as soon as new safety protocols are finalized and put in place.