It's a question many people have been asking - can pets catch COVID-19?

Kristin Caldwell is the Chief of Veterinary Operations at Prairie Animal Health Centre. She said the pets' role in COVID-19 transmission is still uknown.

"They weren't sick," she noted. "And it's really unknown their ability to transmit COVID-19."

"It's still a good rule of thumb that if you're out walking and exploring outside, that if you come into contact with another pet, that you should avoid touching other peoples pets, just for that reason," Caldwell advised.

"But for my staff here, we have to handle pets, and we have to come into contact with them, and really, it's just a fun thing to do when you're examining a puppy to of course play with that puppy, so it's unavoidable for us to not touch them," she noted.

She said they are, of course, as thoroughly careful as they can be.

"We just treat them like a contaminated surface, so we wash our hands good after we're done handling them, and we do our best to switch leashes and things like that, any sort of surface that we're handling as well. None of our staff have traveled in the last 14 days, so we try to do our part, but at the same time, we are handling peoples' pets and other peoples' belongings in between there, so we're just washing and using P.P.E. when we need to."

That said, if you might be sick, strongly consider rescheduling any non-essential appointments for your pets.

"Pets are considered to be like any sort of contaminated surface, so we're supposed to do our best to avoid handling a pet, but it's almost impossible with our job, so we do ask that clients that are sick or possibly at risk of having COVID-19 to identify that, and if it is a non-essential service, so maybe it's just a wellness checkup or those types of things if that can be postponed, because for staff, we have to hug and hold your pet while your pet gets its needles or its checkup, so it's really difficult for us not to handle your pet."

Read more HERE on how PAHC is doing their part to keep everyone safe during the pandemic.