'There's a tangible good': Nashville animal shelter connects pets with loving homes amid pandemic
NASHVILLE — For a cat with no eyes, Nikki sure is a daredevil.
The minute she came home with Alyssa Nelson, she was climbing things, playfully sparring with her new cat brother Jack and stirring up trouble.
"There is nothing she doesn't get into," Nelson said. "Honestly, I forget she is blind half the time. She's the most content when she's scaring me to death."
Nelson first took Nikki on as a foster in July when she was just a few months old, caring for her through surgery and recovery. But as the time drew near to put her onto the adoption floor at Nashville Humane Association, one thing became clear to Nelson — she and Nikki belonged together.
"I couldn't give her back, so we made it official," Nelson told The Tennessean in December. "She and I have become the best of friends."
Her name stuck, along with the nickname "Nikki No-Eyes" that shelter workers fondly gave her.
Nelson started volunteering at Nashville Humane in August 2020. She was stir-crazy after months of working from home due to the pandemic and hoped to find something meaningful. She quickly fell in love with both the animals and the people there.
"It's my second home," Nelson said. "I can't imagine not having it during the pandemic."
Animal shelters ride out difficulties as COVID-19 continues
The shelter, a nonprofit first opened in 1946, is one of Nashville's oldest service organizations. And while the pandemic has brought an uptick in those wanting to foster or adopt pets, it has also come with its challenges.
Executive Director Laura Baker said the organization took in animals from rural shelters who had to close their doors due to lack of staffing and resources.
"It felt like a huge, never-ending hustle to get animals from shelters that were in danger for their lives, through no faults of their own, to Nashville Humane Association," Baker said. "We had folks waiting to adopt and foster, but the logistics of getting animals ready from Point A to adoptable Point B, it took time and resources."
There was also a boom in the pet population as sterilization surgeries were canceled to direct personal protective equipment to health workers battling COVID-19.
The number of adoptions and volunteers to foster waxed and waned as people slowly returned to work and society reopened, Baker said. Nashville Humane, along with its peers, learned to adapt.
"We have never seen the animal welfare world this busy," she said. "It's a living, breathing thing. It's always changing."
The association still gets several requests a day from overflowing shelters in other areas, Baker said. In December, it even took in displaced animals in the wake of devastating tornadoes that struck Kentucky.
Through it all, the success stories of foster homes and adoptions have sustained Baker.
"There's a tangible good," she said. "What brings me to tears is seeing the humans coming together when it's such a volatile time and bonding over the mission of helping animals."
'Like a little therapist'
When Amanda Morrison first spotted Nyla at the shelter, she gave her husband a knowing look.
"She looked at the dog and then looked at me like, 'Can we please take her home?'" Joseph Shecter said.
Nyla came home with them in August 2020. Morrison works as a doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Shecter is a first lieutenant in the Army who works as a medical officer. As an internal medicine resident, Morrison has rotated through several departments at VUMC, including a stint in the COVID-19 unit.
"I definitely was in the thick of it," she said.
At one point, Shecter deployed to Chicago to help set up a vaccination site at the United Center. During the long stretches when her husband was away, Morrison said, it was a lifesaver to have Nyla waiting at home.
"It was a lot more fun to be home alone," Morrison said. "Even when I'm working long hours, to come home to her takes my mind off everything."
Lauren Horne, who works as a police officer, said her adopted dog Rosie has been wonderful for her mental health and well-being. Horne lives alone and said her dog, who she adopted in January, has kept her company in even the hardest times.
"I treat her like a little therapist sometimes," Horne joked. "I can come home after a really stressful day where I've dealt with something difficult at work, and she's just there, and she likes to snuggle and will help calm me down."
Abe Switters said his adopted and foster dogs have been essential to his well-being, too. At one point in his life, he'd lost everything — his home, his relationships and his sobriety. His dog, named Mr. Puckett, stuck with him through it all for 13 years.
"He was all I had, and the only reason I eventually got better," Switters said.
After Mr. Puckett died, Switters came across his look-alike, adopted him and named him Puckett Jr. He later adopted a dog that he named Mrs. Puckett and recently took in an elderly foster dog who is nearing the end of her life.
Her name? Nanna Puckett.
"I don't think I would've kept my sobriety through Mr. Puckett's death or through the pandemic if it wasn't for the dogs," Switters said. "They've made me want a better life for myself so I can give a better life to them."
Find reporter Rachel Wegner on Twitter @rachelannwegner.