Amidst all the things we have on our minds during this pandemic, we should add “Pandemic puppies” to the list.
Hundreds of dogs are being brought to shelters, thanks to people impulsively getting dogs to keep them company during lockdowns.
Now, those people are realizing they weren’t ready for the commitment. So they’re abandoning those same dogs at shelters now. “Sad” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
I know things can get lonely when quarantining, but the life of another critter isn’t something you can just borrow.
The sheer volume of surrendered pet pooches at shelters alarming. It’s been dubbed the “Pandemic puppy wave” and it began when COVID restrictions began to lighten. When folks realized they could go outside again (albeit cautiously), many realized they didn’t need the companionship of a dog.
So to the shelter all those dogs went. Left behind, and probably feeling betrayed by the people they saw as family.
The number of dogs being surrendered is unprecedented. According to findings from RSPCA Victoria, the typical rate of dogs being surrendered to shelters is 50 dogs a month. That number steadily grew over the course of the pandemic, reaching a high point of 150 dogs per month during the Christmas season.
“Covid has had a huge impact. I would expect that quite a few of your biggest states are seeing capacity issues for sure.” – said Nadia Peiris, manager of RSPCA Victoria
With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that other rescue facilities are reporting the same thing.
It seems to be an especially prominent event in Australia.
German Shepherd Rescue Victoria (GSRV) corroborated the reports. They too were seeing unprecedented numbers of dogs being surrendered at their shelters.
They wrote over on Facebook :
“This breaks our heart to have to write this, but we cannot cope with the number of dogs that need our help. We are being inundated with surrender requests again; we knew this year would be busier than ever, but this is just too much.”
Something they noted was what most of the dogs had in common. They were all dogs with complex behavior problems.
All this might sound bad enough in a written headline, but listen to GSRV explain the full scope of the problem in the same post.
“We have made the necessary decision to temporarily close to any new surrender requests that need help this side of Easter. Of course, we will still try to take on urgent cases from pounds and shelters where dogs have run out of options, but to everyone else, we ask you to bear with us over the coming weeks, we simply do not have the capacity to take in any more dogs.”
In case you need another reminder to not get a dog if you’re not ready, this is it.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
