The Jefferson City Animal Shelter temporarily moved to appointments only Monday because of staffing and health concerns.
The shift is scheduled to only last a week, but may go longer if the current situation continues.
Lt. David Williams, public information officer with the Jefferson City Police Department, said three of the animal shelter's eight full-time positions are vacant.
When fully staffed, the animal shelter has one vet, two technicians, four animal control officers and a shelter manager. The shelter manager and two animal control officer positions are open, Williams said.
Candidate interviews for the manager position took place Monday, he said, and the job listings for animal control officers have closed.
In the meantime, one animal control officer is filling the role of interim manager, Williams said. That means there's only one officer available to answer calls.
A news release also cites COVID-19 as a contributing factor for the shift to appointments only, but Williams declined to answer additional questions on the topic.
"We don't discuss our employees' health," he said. "That's not something new to this issue. We don't discuss it, period."
Williams said the animal shelter will continue all the services it normally provides, but members of the public will need to make an appointment.
"We're short-staffed, and the staff that is there are not able to do all the necessary things to keep the window open," he said. "We have to have a staff person there in case someone that comes in has to go back and look at an animal or there's some issue with an animal."
While this includes looking to adopt animals, the need for an appointment extends to other situations as well.
For instance, if somebody's dog gets out while they're not home and an animal control officer can't locate the owner, the dog goes back to the shelter.
Williams said the owner would need to make an appointment to pick up the dog.
Also, if somebody finds an abandoned animal, they'll need to make an appointment to bring it to the shelter.
People can schedule an appointment with shelter staff by calling 573-634-6429.
In August, the animal shelter changed its hours because of staffing concerns. The shelter is no longer open on weekends and normally operates noon-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.