Pet adoptions during the past two years brought dogs, cats, and other animals to people’s homes. Photo Credit Nataba from Splash. 

By Annais Garcia, Staff Reporter

While the pandemic affected people’s health emotionally, mentally and physically , it also brought a good opportunity for pet adoption, as pets have been emotional supporters for many people. California State University Dominguez Hills students,  Jennifer Chupin and Vy Try, are one of the hundred of people who gave a forever home to their pets during the pandemic. 

Chupin, who is majoring in Biology, adopted a dog during the beginning of the pandemic.“I felt like this pandemic was rough and I adopted a dog even though we were in uncertain times, because they need love too. It can be hard for animals too,” Chupin said.

To Chupin, owning a pet is similar to parenthood for the level of responsibility it represents. 

“The whole reason for getting animals is to provide them with a forever home and forever love and care,” Chupin said. 

Try, a CSUDH clinical lab science student loves animals and  has owned a Samoyed dog for three years, more recently she also adopted a bunny.  

The pandemic was not the main factor for her to adopt a new pet, but animals finding a new home are part of a national trend during the pandemic. 

According to the Shelter Animal Count’s  COVID-19 impact report, between 2020 and 2021 the pet adoption increased 5% in the United States.

In 2021, 40% of dogs, and 43% cats were adopted from shelters based on the data from HumanePro by the Humane Society of the United States. 

“We saw record numbers of adoptions during the pandemic,” said Staycee Dain, the manager of Long Beach Animal Care, a shelter in Long Beach California,  “I think the pandemic was one of the best things to happen for animal shelters in a long time.”

Despite the increase in adoption, shelters are still struggling?

Despite the adoptions happening during the past two years, shelters face other struggles.

“Animals in the shelters [are] not getting adopted as quickly, so they are staying in the shelter for a long time,” Dain said.

There are also times that people are looking for specific breeds and these are not in shelters, which take them to look in different areas. 

“I tried looking around shelters for a Corgi, but I didn’t find any until I found one online by a certified breeder,” Chupin said.

Try explained that she bought her Samoyed dog instead of adopting from a shelter because she always wanted one as a pet, and also because she trusts the person she bought it from.

“I love Samoyeds for their happy and friendly nature. I’ve always wanted a dog and wanted a good temperament for my first dog,” Try said. “Shelter dogs you do not know the temperament or if the dog can develop a disease later. 

According to Dain, many people believe that animals from shelters are not friendly, or are sick. This is not real because animals from shelters were once someone else’s pets.  For Dan some of the reasons why animals end up in shelters is because of circumstances like getting lost or sometimes the owners can’t economically afford to take care of them.

 “Every animal in the shelter was someone’s pet, so they are used to being around people, they love to be around people, they love people, and they need a home,” Dain said.

Dain talked about that animals that have arrived at shelters sick or with problems, are being helped and have gotten medical attention. She also said that shelters help adopters with basic staff like medicine, vaccines, and miscroship (among other things), and that animals at shelters can be adopted for a cost of $99.

“Our shelter does a very good job with those issues. One of the best things from adopting from a shelter is that you have the shelter support for that animal,” Dain said.

Dain explained how those who recently adopted a pet should take the time to know the animals because they all are different and also have different personalities.

According to the Homeward Pet Adoption Center, there are some important considerations when people want a pet like time, money, space, and willingness  to meet unexpected needs like visits to the veterinari in case of an emergency.

“The world is a space right now that can be very scary, the pandemic has been very stressful and the war is very sudden. There is a lot going on and people’s lives,” Dain said. “Volunteering in a shelter or fostering a pet is one way to do something really important.”