Animal shelters are reporting a surge in interest in fostering and adopting pets as the nation remains largely locked down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
At Ohio’s Franklin County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center, more than 155 dogs are being fostered by the public for an indefinite amount of time, spokesman Andrew Kohn told the Columbus Dispatch.
Appointments to look at dogs are booked two weeks in advance now.
“This is not normal,” Kohn said.
“Our evil master plan is the more time people spend with a dog, the harder it will be to give them back,” Kohn added. “Animals, on a basic level, tug at your heartstrings. You’re at home by yourself and it makes the animals feel good.”
Surges in dog and cat adoptions have been reported across the country.
Bloomberg news service last month reported New York City “is running out of foster dogs.”
“We’re seeing people show up in droves to foster,” Julie Castle, chief executive officer of Best Friends, told the news outlet.
Fox News reported Midwest Animal Rescue has also been inundated with humans in search of a pet.
“It has been a whirlwind of wonder," Camille Bates of Midwest Animal Rescue told Fox News. "We put out a national call for foster families and the response has been incredible. If you are going to be at home, fostering or adopting a pet is a great time for you to bond with a buddy."
In New York City and Los Angeles, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says applications to foster dogs and cats is up 200%, Fox News reported.
PetPoint, a software program shared by some 1,200 shelters nationwide, reports fostering and adoptions are up 700% over the last year.
"We are seeing people all over the country stepping up to foster and adopt animals from their local shelters and rescues," Humane Society CEO Kitty Block told Fox News. "It has truly been a game-changer in the sheltering world."
But there’s a concern the reverse will also be true: that owners sickened by COVID-19 or jobless will be unable to care for a pet and bring them to shelters.
“We’re doing whatever we can to empty all of our shelter facilities,” Lisa LaFontaine, chief executive officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance, which has adoption centers in the District of Columbia and New Jersey, told the Dispatch.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen when the economic wave starts hitting.”
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