As everyone in France and probably everyone elsewhere already knows, France is now officially on full lockdown. No one knows how long this will last, but an initial period of two weeks is certain and this will presumably be extended depending on the speed of propagation of Coronavirus.
The Government has made it clear that dog walking is permitted, although not in social groups. So there is no need to deprive yourself or your dogs of their usual exercise regime. However you will be required to carry a self-declaration explaining why you are out of your home. It can be downloaded here, but if you do not have a printer, you can copy it out and sign your handwritten paper.
Of course there will be a huge impact on the refuge. Health authorities have made it clear that the virus is not carried or transmittable to animals, so there is no need to abandon animals. Although sadly people will do so. The ScPA will doubtless fill up and there is nothing that can be done about this.
However rest assured that when this period of lockdown started there was quite a lot of free space. Plus some incredible work was carried out before midday today, meaning that many of the elderly and vulnerable dogs are now in foster families. Huge thanks to all the effort that was put in by staff and volunteers and huge thanks to people who took in or offered to take in animals.
Inevitably the dog show planned for next month has been cancelled. Up till this point there had been minimal investment of time (apologies to Marcus who did the fabulous poster), and we need to be realistic.
Take care everyone. Keep walking your dogs and look after them; you are all they have and equally I am sure that they are providing you with comfort and company during these difficult times.
Look after yourselves; look after each other and hopefully we can get through this without any more distress than is absolutely necessary.