Domestic Pets and Covid 19

Being in quarantine can get very lonely.

You can’t go out and see your friends and you probably shouldn’t be visiting your extended family, much less going to work or school. We don’t realize how much we really depend on things until they are taken away, and right now, that thing is social interaction. 

So, we subconsciously turn to the things around us for company; for many people that’s our house pets. 

They’ll exercise with us, eat with us, and even cuddle up and sleep with us. This gives people the comfort they’re missing by being in quarantine. For people who don’t have pets, what are they doing to keep sane? 

Well, the people who don’t have pets are adopting them. The pet adoption rate in 2020 has gone up almost 64%, according to USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer.

Animal rescue shelters have seen an increase in animal adoptions. According to CNBC.com’s Sarah Whitten, shelters, “saw a spike in adoptions and foster applications in late February and early March as people prepared for extended stays at home.

People just rushed into getting their animals and now, those pets are paying the price. Most pets aren’t really in any danger of being abandoned or abused because adoption places realized pretty early that people are starting to make quick sometimes rash decisions about adopting a pet, so the adoption places have upped their application forms, making it harder to just adopt any pet you want. 

James Bias, the executive director of the Connecticut Humane Society, told the AP, that, ““Since we have so many people staying at home, fostering right now also is a lot easier. When people start going back to work, there may not be as many available foster homes.”

Now, as things are starting to open back up, what’s happening to all those pets we adopted when we felt isolated and lonely? People are starting to go back to work more and more, which means they are spending less time with their pets.

This neglect can really take a toll on our pets.

Animal activists are watching this sad reality, but really can’t do that much to prevent potential abandonment . That’s why people and organizations, such as the Humane Society,  are reaching out to those who don’t know what to do with their pet now that quarantine is starting to end for many. 

Click here for a “Leaving-your-dog-home-alone-guilt-free-guide” from the American Human Society

The hope is that these pet owners will receive guidance and  try to take care of their pets correctly instead of bringing them back to the place where they got them. 

The dog is perhaps the most popular pet being adopted during COVID. Puppies really need to be socialized and given the right amount of attention so they can grow up to be friendly dogs instead of scared or even vicious ones.

One such new pet owner is Andrea Balogh, from Arizona. 

I interviewed Balogh who lives with her husband as empty nester, her kids have gone off to college, and her other dog Cookie that is starting to get a little older. She works a very busy full time job as a lawyer and her husband is a chef, so he’s home a little more often than she is. They recently got their new dog, a pug named Skinny P, and I thought she would be the perfect person to ask the following questions regarding adopting a dog during COVID:

What made you decide to get a pet during COVID?

We felt our other dog Cookie was getting a little lonely and thought she could use a friend. We also really wanted to help a pet in need if another family was struggling to care for their dog. We mainly just wanted some more company in the house and felt it was a good time since we were all home.

Was it harder or easier getting your pet during COVID and why? 

It took a lot longer than we thought, we had to wait several months before we heard anything back from the adoption place, we later found out this was due to all the applications they were getting. We started to think there were no dogs left. The screening process was difficult because it had to be done over zoom, when they would normally have come over. This made it harder for the agency to see how good or bad of a fit we were for the dog.

 How are you and your pet doing and do you regret your decision at all? 

No, we do not have any regrets. This is the first time we adopted so we struggled a bit because we didn’t know Skinny’s history or where she really came from. She is super sweet though and a nice addition.

Why a dog  and not a different kind of pet?

We’re just a dog family, we have never really liked cats and we’ve always had dogs. We just feel they are more fun and present; both our pugs personalities are big and amazing.