Dog Adoptions Spiked And Now Returns Are Spiking Too

Human behavior during the Coronavirus pandemic has been studied and dissected a million different ways,  We drank more, we slept less, we ate more, we learned to cook, we ordered out more as restaurants adapted or went out of business, we suffered with anxiety, we changed jobs, we lost jobs, our relationships got worse...or better depending on the study you read...etc etc etc AND we through it all, we adopted dogs to keep us company while we were locked down at home.  If we couldn't go see family or friends, we could at least rely on the embrace and the unconditional love of a loyal dog.  Now it seems like we aren't returning the favor and we are capitulating on the commitment!

Fox News reports on a BBC examination that indicated shelters across the U.S. are seeing higher than average rates of returned pets. This comes about a year after the same shelters saw a spike in adoptions as people faced lockdowns due to the pandemic.

Apparently man's best friend doesn't have an equal partner in that best friend equation.

On the one hand it makes sense.  Empty hours of down time are being replaced by kids returning to school, parents returning to work, families traveling more as some sense of American normalcy returns.  For many families who adopted a dog moths ago, the return to the hectic pace of life in America is squeezing out the new found family pet.

Shelter workers want to remind us all that pet adoption is “a lifelong commitment.”