Quarantine pets: emptying shelters, filling hearts and homes

By Emma Hartman

While many people have been longing to see their friends and family during these unprecedented times, others have been finding new ones in the form of dogs, cats, and other furry friends.

Animal shelters across the world have been emptying at a rapid pace, with some people even struggling to find dogs to adopt from shelters around them due to the lack of animals occupying them! One might assume that Covid-19 is the only global pandemic happening right now, but depression and loneliness are affecting more people than Covid-19 ever could. Being locked in a house with no contact with loved ones has caused a spike in depression and loneliness. Animals are stress-relieving and comforting. For this reason, millions of people around the world have been masking up and venturing into animal shelters to find their new best friends. While hospital beds are filling up, dog shelters are emptying.

Katy Hanson, the communications director for the Animal Care Centers of NYC, reports in an interview with Rebecca Jennings from Vos, “at any given time we have over 600 animals in our care and right now we have less than 100 if that’s any indication of how it’s going.”

Sophomore Lucy Studniarz adopted a new dog named Butters. She said that getting a new pet has definitely changed her lifestyle, “because we now take them on walks to get her leash trained.” Not only has having a dog made her life more interesting, but it has also increased her mental health. She said, “mental health issues were something a lot of people struggled with during quarantine and having a ¨buddy¨ always makes it easier and less lonely.” Studies have shown that she is correct in thinking this!

People of all ages have been adopting new pets to raise their morale and levels of activity. This has been a tremendous thing for animals and people across the globe, and one can only hope that dog shelters continue to be as empty as they have been during the pandemic.