During COVID-19, getting puppies became popular. The mix of loneliness and boredom that came along with isolation drove people in flocks to adopt a pet.
According to a Rover 2021 statistic, roughly 41 per cent of Canadian homes welcomed a ‘pandemic puppy’ as of January 2021.
However, many who adopted pets during COVID soon realized that puppies are challenging to train and they are time-consuming. When the lockdown began to lift, people changed their minds about having a pet.
A pet is a commitment. The term ‘fur baby’ is often used to compare pets to children because of the large dedication.
As stores began to reopen in 2021 and life began to become normal again, people quickly realized they did not have time to take care of their new pets. These pets are now called ‘COVID pets’ and as their owners return to the office, they are in trouble.
This is where the surge in shelter surrenders comes from.
With a combination of inflation and rising housing costs, people are finding it hard to fit owning a pet into the budget.
“We have always triaged a waitlist when we take in animals here, just to make sure the most urgent or emergency situations get here first,” said Anna-Lee Fitzsimmones, director of public relation at the Calgary Humane Society in an article published by the Calgary Herald in May. “But that waitlist, where it used to be 12 to 15 dogs sitting on a waitlist that was triaged over a course of a few weeks, now we have upwards of 200 dogs on that waitlist.”
Not only is this disrespectful and harmful to the animals in question, but it has greatly affected the shelters and their ability to care for the animals coming in.
The trend has continued elsewhere in Canada, with one B.C. shelter recently urging breeders to slow down, due to the rise in surrenders. In Toronto, a group that rescues chinchillas is “overflowing with surrendered animals,” according to the CBC.
With the problem lingering long after the lockdowns, it’s the animals themselves that face the consequences. Surrendered animals are not receiving the care and treatment they require because shelters lack supplies and support.
CBC News explains that Edmonton shelters had to halt the intake of dogs due to overpopulation last summer.
“Overcrowding and capacity issues can complicate or compromise our ability to care for dogs, and it also increases the possibility of disease transfer and stress on the animals that are in our care,” John Wilson, director of animal control and park rangers in Edmonton, told CBC News.
Shelters have no option but to take in these animals, even if it is lowering the quality of care to an all-time low.
Getting an animal should not be a spur-of-the-moment decision. It is a huge commitment, and the sheer amount of unawareness about the time commitment is an indication that there should be more research done prior to adoption.
According to the Animal Humane Society, there are five major considerations when looking for an animal: time commitment, cost, other pets, other household members and landlord approval.
By doing your research, you can prepare yourself and really begin to think about if you are ready to commit to owning a pet.