2020 Was The Worst For People But The Best For Dogs

I think as a society we can agree 2020 was not the entrance into the new roaring twenties we hoped it would be. I don’t have to give you the rundown of how each month brought a new tragedy, inconvenience, or thing trying to kill us. But hear me out—although 2020 sucked for most humans it was a really great year for our furry friends.

Normally, I would include cats in the “furry friends” bracket but cats are not exactly the most… unconditionally loving animals. I’m not not a cat person but we’re gonna focus on dogs for right now.

March brought what felt like the end of the world to us: lockdown. We had to stay home as much as possible and only go out for essentials or for a (masked) walk. This was hard for many of us because so much of our happiness comes from social interaction with our peers.

But our dogs?

Our canine buddies who are normally left at home while their paw-rents are at work have had non-stop human interaction for the past nine months. They got to be the stars of Zoom business meetings, have extra-long or multiple walks each day, and were given an exponentially increased number of treats.

Take my personal pooch, a rescued Treeing Walker Coonhound named Jack who is around 13 years old. In 2019, Jack was on a strict diet and got a 15 minute walk each day. The humans of the house would work typical 8-hour days that he napped through, and when we got home he would shove his butt in the face of the closest human to get their attention.

In 2020, we were all on Jack’s schedule. We decided to teach Jack some new tricks which led to an increase in the amount of treats we gave him. He probably would have gained around 15 pounds except for the fact that his walk time increased to about an hour each day. He didn’t nap as much, but he also didn’t feel the need stick his butt in our faces as much because he had more than enough attention.

I’d imagine that any dog who heard us trashing 2020 would be very confused considering this has probably been the best year of their lives. (If they understood English. Which they might and just haven’t figured out how to form the words yet. If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that you never know.)

The worst impact that social distancing has had on dogs is the reduced number of friends they got to make while out on a walk or at the dog park. Pre-COVID, “Can I pet your dog?” was a common phrase heard on the street. But with safety measures in place, we’ve had to curb random pettings. Still, dogs were able to get so much more quality time with their owners even if they didn’t receive as much attention from strangers.

2020 also improved things for dogs in shelters.

The ASPCA estimates that 6.5 million companion animals are brought to US animal shelters each year; 3.3 million of these animals are dogs and the rest are cats. While it will take a little while to get exact adoption numbers throughout the country to compare to previous years, we can look at individual shelters. For example, at Underdog Pet Rescue of Wisconsin:

March 2019 Adoptions: 84

March 2020 Adoptions: 143

April 2019 Adoptions: 90

April 2020 Adoptions: 200

May 2019 Adoptions: 106

May 2020 Adoptions: 188

And this is just an example of one shelter.

Madeline Bernstein, the president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA), stated that the shelter is getting their pets adopted as fast as they come in. “The animal shelters have been emptied of adoptable animals through either adoptions or fosters, because of what a good time it is… to work with a new pet. And it’s also a hedge against loneliness.”

Bernstein also reported that spcaLA adoptions were double their usual rate in June of 2020, with 10-13 adoptions each day. The non-profit shelter began waiting lists for certain types of dogs and puppies.

The initial wave of pet adoptions in March was a result of people wanting to clear the shelters before the shutdown. The second wave in the summer was a result of people wanting a companion when they realized they would be indoors for much longer than expected.

Across the country in NYC, Animal Care Centers reported that the foster-to-adopt percentage increased from 10% in previous years to 25% this year. Katy Hansen, the director of marketing and communications for the Animal Care Centers of NYC, said that the people who fostered a dog in March were more likely to commit to adopting the dog and the dogs that were adopted were less likely to be returned to the shelter.

Even if you’re not a dog owner, you have to admit that it’s extremely heartwarming to think of the fact that for at least a year there was no need to run the Sarah McLachlan “In The Arms of An Angel” ads.

(There was also an increase in the adoptions of cats this year, but I think house cats were less than thrilled at the idea of their humans being home all the time. Cats are extremely independent animals and felines strike me as the kind of animals who appreciate their alone time.)

So when you look back on 2020 and think of all the terrible things it brought for us as humans, remember that it was a heyday for the dogs of the world. When lockdown eventually comes to an end, don’t forget to take your dog on long walks and give them extra treats.

#nbholidaycheer

Websites Used:

https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics

https://time.com/5912616/pet-of-the-year-2020-rescue-animals/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/12/adoptions-dogs-coronavirus/

https://www.channel3000.com/were-more-pets-adopted-due-to-quarantine/