BoredPanda.com is a Lithuanian website that publishes articles about “lightweight and inoffensive topics,” including frequent posts about animals. A week ago, the site shared a Facebook post from a British group, “Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue.” The post included a story supposedly written by an anonymous veterinarian, who claimed he increasingly had been asked to euthanize healthy young dogs that were adopted during the pandemic by people who couldn’t or didn’t train them. The Yorkshire Rose Dog Rescue group concurred, writing in some introductory post that they, too, had been seeing dogs surrendered by overwhelmed owners on a daily basis.
Sigh.
I’m looking for articles or news coverage that might support these allegations – that after a record number of adoptions and fostering in 2020, that people are starting to give up the pets they brought home last year. I didn’t find many.
I found an October 2020 article on the Today Show website that quoted a California rescue group that said they had seen an increased number of dogs who were given up due to pandemic-related financial hardship.
I found a link to a December 2020 Fox News broadcast alleging that shelters in Minnesota were seeing higher numbers of abandoned and surrendered animals, also due to pandemic-related financial hardship.
But I also found articles that alleged that adoptions and fostering are still taking place at a record pace. Sadly, I also saw many articles discussing the fact that puppy mills and backyard breeders have been producing puppies as fast as they can, to meet the pandemic demand.
My own experience, volunteering in a rural Northern California county shelter, is that the intake numbers are down, and “live release rates” (adoptions, fosters, and transfers to other shelters) are up. My local shelter has been increasingly sending animals to shelters in more populated and more affluent areas in the San Francisco Bay area.
Here at WDJ, we’ve tried to meet the needs of new dog owners with an increased number of articles aimed at basic education, especially for puppy training (including here, here, here, here, and here!). I remain hopeful that the increase in adoptions and fostering will contribute to an increase in responsible dog ownership and lower rates of euthanasia.
But I’m curious: What’s your experience? If you work or volunteer in rescue, are you seeing an increase in animal returns or surrenders? Or are dogs still in short supply? If you are trying to adopt, have you found a decrease or an increase in the number of dogs available?
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Back in July/August of 2020, I was looking for a new dog at my local rescue organizations and shelters. I did eventually adopt a great dog from Philadelphia Animal Care and Control. But while I was looking I saw a high number of dogs that moved through the rescues and shelter listings very quickly. They’d be posted and gone very fast. I was surprised by how fast they were gone because I wasn’t looking at puppies or lil dogs which always seem to be in high demand, I was looking at larger dogs around 5 years and older. There were dogs I’d see posted and the day after they were posted I’d go to the shelter to see them or contact the rescue to inquire only to be told that the dog was no longer available. I don’t know if they were being transferred to other organizations out of the area or if they were adopted into families, but I hope they all have nice families.
At least they are not being killed like in Pakistan. I read articles about stray dogs being poisoned in Pakistan and being tied down and dragged behind vehicles. Can we do something about it? Those images have been haunting me in my dreams.
I belong to an association in Barcelona (Spain) that rescues dogs, dogs that cannot be caught, many are greyhounds and hunting dogs, abused and abandoned in rural areas.
Our main problem is in the little care that some shelters and adopters have when they have this type of dogs. Lately we have a rebound in lost dogs due to negligence on the part of these shelters and adopters. It is a serious issue and there is no way to stop it. It is a shame that the effort involved in capturing this type of dogs, which sometimes takes months, ends up escaped, lost and some died.
working at a rescue group in chicago we have seen our share of adopters returning their dogs because the human level of anxiety produced by the needs of the animal (these were not special needs adoptions) were untenable post adoption. people are stretched really thin. it seems that for some this change in routine is the perfect green light to get the dog they had been wanting. for others the additional increase in stress and responsibility is more than they bargained for on top of everything else.
I am a Regional Director for a nationwide rescue group that is breed specific and we have not seen an increase in returns since we saw an increase in adoptions or people fostering. I believe a key part of this is our group integrated into the screening process that very discussion with potential adopters in regards about plans should they be going back to work post pandemic. Additionally we have also seen a lack of dogs over all, which our hope is that with people staying and or working from home they have also found away to spend time with their furry friends. However only time will tell.
I’ve been trying to adopt through petfinders and adopt-a-dog but they never respond to my applications. I’ve got great references and vetting history and exceptional training skills. I even did stray rescue for 30 years. So it’s been a mystery to me until now why I’m never chosen. Could it be that I’m 71 years old? I’m in great health and am planning ahead for the care of all my pets as I age but — nope — I’m rejected. It’s so depressing!
When you’re on Petfinder or adopt a pet and thinking of applying for a dog, go to the rescues actual website and read their adoption policy first. I have discovered some rescues will not adopt a a dog to an older person if they think the dog has a possibility of outliving said person. Other rescues have it in their policy they will not adopt to anyone that doesn’t have a fenced in yard. And still others won’t adopt puppies to families with young children. Reading a rescue organizations adoption policy before you apply will often times tell you if you are wasting your time.
We have what many would describe as a pandemic puppy. Purely because of when she was born. I live in the UK and we went in to lockdown end of March 2020. Our pup was conceived early march. We had been on the breeders waiting list 5 years. She was a planned litter and purchase, though as s with anything we may have been still on the waiting list if more boys had bee born like her mum’s previous litter.
I have fostered, dog walked and home checked for a UK animal charity, but have not seen an increase in rehoming. More often friends have gone and got pups from breeders. This is mainly due to the number of UK shelters that have very few dogs suitable for families with children under 10. This was the reason that we went on both the breed rescue wait list and that of a couple of breeders we got on with.
I hope any dog returned after people have discovered they can not readapt their life finds a loving home.
I don’t think our shelters are getting animals back yet. It will be a few years down the road for many dogs that were adopted as puppies or young dogs. When they will be “too much work” or owners will be back to normal and the pandemic will be a memory. Then, when they are not as adoptable, and have issues, they will start coming back. I think it is a little too early to judge what will happen, kids are still doing remote learning and many adults are still working from home. And hardly anyone is traveling.
Sadly, I think it will happen with other species also. Cats, guinea pigs, rabbits. All animals many think are low or no maintenance initially. Then they find they need a lot more care than they thought. So, they will start going back too. Sometimes I hate people…………………………….
I, too, am having difficulty finding a new, small, companion dog. Rescues in LA are militant about vetting, and charge $350-$650 for their pups whether 2 moths or 6 years old…it’s a big business. LAAnimalservices, in it’s doubtful wisdom, has closed our West Valley Animal Shelter (due to “COVID/financial restraints,” which leaves a huge area devoid of services (although we’re still paying on a Bond F that taxpayers are still paying for). This means we only have one shelter for 232 Sq Miles. Their solution is for “finders,” to try and locate owners of lost dogs through social media sites. This doesn’t help the injured animals who now depend on good samaritans to drive 45 minutes through heavy traffic to take them to that one shelter, or pay out of their own pockets to take them to the nearest vet. Of course, the Director of Animal services won’t take a cut in her $300k salary to go towards reopening the West Valley Shelter! No wonder people look at our City as corrupt!