Village Voice reporter Raj Tawney writes in his latest piece about the problematic dumping of so-called “pandemic pets,” pets adopted during the pandemic to keep newly home-bound owners company. An international issue, Tawney writes about his own experience with adopting a dog in 2020, using this unique perspective to shine a light on the current issues rescue groups and shelters face with animals being returned.
“Initially, the Covid-19 lockdown led lonely isolators to impulsively seek companionship,” writes Tawney. “Dog adoption grew in popularity during the pandemic—until those adopters decided that caring for an animal was too burdensome once their day-to-day life was returned to them…With office workers going back to their physical places of employment and finding themselves unable, or, often, unwilling, to care for their pets, and others just generally overwhelmed by the responsibility of tending to another life, the warm-and-fuzzy pendulum has started to swing in the wrong direction.”
Read more on the Village Voice here.
