The Vicksburg Animal Shelter is closed to the public, shelter director Kacie Lindsey said.

“With a lot of people off work, we’ve had people just randomly come in to look at the animals, and we’re trying to avoid that,” she said.

She said the shelter staff will go to the shelter twice a day to feed the animals and clean the building.

“We will still be working with rescues, and we are in the process of putting pictures of all our animals on our website,” she said. “If people have emergencies, they can still get us through the Action Line or 911 and we will respond.”

Lindsey said people who are serious about adopting an animal can contact her for an appointment by emailing her at animalshelter@vicksburg.org or on the shelter’s Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/cityofvicksburganimalshelter

“They must have the animal picked out,” Lindsey said. “I will meet them at the shelter between the hours of 8 to 11:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, to look at the animal.”

She said those days are the only time the Vicksburg Police Department will handle animal adoptions.

In March, Lindsey issued a policy temporarily prohibiting volunteers from working at the shelter.

The days people could adopt animals was changed from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday to coincide with the police department’s hours to handle animal adoption fees.