The Pandemic and Pet Ownership
The COVID-19 pandemic forced isolation, loneliness and boredom on many of us. This was especially true if you were isolated due to being medically vulnerable. In the UK, one side effect was a sizeable increase in pet ownership. People were spending so much time at home, and it is understandable that a pet would become an attractive prospect in these circumstances.
Pets can benefit our mental health and wellbeing, providing companionship, motivation and love. However, they cost money to keep and can require a lot of space and time.
As reported by The Independent newspaper on 6th April 2022 (please see the bottom of this post for the link), “The association’s annual report finds that while 4.7 million households acquired a new pet…” Furthermore, the article mentions another result of the pandemic: the number of people who gave up their pets for adoption “during the pandemic, an estimated 3.4 million have given one up since 2021.”
There are many reasons why people give up their pets. One of the main reasons for this is financial strain. The pandemic certainly caused a lot of that. However, the financial difficulties may also have resulted in people moving into accommodations where pets were not allowed or where there was no room for them.
There is another question that leads on from this. Now that more and more people are returning to the office full-time, what is happening to the pets? Are they just being left at home all day after becoming used to their owners being around all the time? Are the owners coming to realise that they do not have the time or energy to care for a pet under “normal” circumstances? Hopefully, in many cases, things are continuing to work well for both pets and owners.
The 2022 PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report (please see the PDSA link at the bottom of this post) looked partly at the impact of the pandemic on the UK’s pets. It highlighted some areas of concern when it came to owners researching pet ownership and some behavioural issues that are being displayed by some pandemic pets.
“As the cost of living crisis starts to bite, figures show that an alarming 20% of owners did no prior research before taking on a pet, and just 18% of all owners investigated the costs associated with pet ownership.”
“The amount of time that dogs spend with their owners appears to be returning to pre-pandemic levels…Findings also showed that dogs owned for less than two years showed higher levels of separation-related behaviours^ affecting 360,000 dogs, (14%) compared to those owned for more than five years (9%) – suggesting those bought during the pandemic could be struggling to adjust to longer periods of time away from their owners, as people spend less time at home.”
In conclusion, it highlights why getting a pet should never be done on a whim. It is a decision that not only has an impact on you but also on the animal.
The views expressed in this post are mine and do not reflect those held by Kelp Social or its website users.
Please see below for the articles used in my research for this post:
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