The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of people self-quarantined at home, especially those most vulnerable to COVID-19 like elders and the immunosuppressed. To help, some stores are getting creative by having dogs deliver their wine and groceries instead of employees.
Maryland company Stone House Urban Winery has been using their 11-year-old boxer Soda Pup to carry wine bottles from the store to customers’ cars waiting outside, reports The Washington Post. The winery has been doing this since mid-March. Of course, a dog carrying heavy glass bottles filled with alcohol in his mouth would be dangerous, so instead Soda Pup carries the wine — two bottles at a time, max — out with saddlebags akin to those used by horses.
“I got online and I found this nifty little pack,” co-owner Lori Yata told local news station WJLA. “We’ve had people call in just specifically to have Soda Pup bring wine out to them, people who have never even been here before.”
Soda Pup isn’t the only dog helping out however he can. A Colorado golden retriever named Sunny has been delivering groceries to his neighbor Renee Hellman, who needs help because she has “some health issues and relies on oxygen,” notes CBS. To avoid putting Hellman at risk, Sunny’s owner, Karen Eveleth, decided to pick up her grocery list, buy the items, and then give the bags to Sunny to walk over to Hellman’s house.
“He started doing the schlepping, back and forth. It’s been fun. It’s been a real treat,” said Hellman. “Little things like Sunny coming over to visit is nice, and it makes you feel good. It’s a way of communicating.”
A musher in Maine is letting her dogs lend a paw, too. Hannah Lucas has spent the last three weeks making food deliveries for quarantined seniors after she saw vulnerable residents buying simple items at the grocery store, reports USA Today. After taking orders by phone, she chooses six of her 14 Siberian huskies to run the errands with her, traveling up to 75 miles a day.
If you run out of dog delivery videos to watch, then consider keeping yourself entertained while quarantined with our updated selection of things to watch during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dogs Are Delivering Wine and Groceries During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Nina Corcoran
