Southern Pines Animal Shelter in Hattiesburg, Mississippi has seen a dramatic growth in pet fostering during the Covid-19 pandemic, reflecting a larger national trend in which pet adoptions have risen significantly during that same time period.
According to the Washington Post, Pet Adoptions have increased dramatically since before the pandemic, both among pets adopted from animal shelters and pets adopted from breeders. This story has also been picked up by USA Today, Fox Business, NPR, and many more. It’s gone so far that ‘Rescue Animals’ were declared Time Magazine’s 2020 Pet of the Year.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that one of the major effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our lives is stressfulness. In a separate post the CDC states that the benefits of owning a pet are decreased blood pressure, decreased feelings of loneliness, increased opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities, and increased opportunities for socialization, which all can help lower stress.
In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the Southern Pines Animal Shelter is seeing these benefits first hand. Dani Snell, Southern Pines’ media coordinator and public relations supervisor, said that while they haven’t seen a net increase in adoptions, like had been reported, they have seen a large increase in people seeking to foster pets. This is consistent with the Animal Care Center of NYC, which the Washington Post reported saw a 15% increase in pets adopted from being fostered.
Snell said, “In the summer we had a lot of people foster things they wouldn’t usually foster, like people usually like to foster puppies and kittens, and typically during the spring that’s where our needs lie. But, we had a lot of people who fostered adult dogs, and adult cats even, and we were able to get those animals adopted from foster.”
When asked about how the dogs themselves were responding to the pandemic, Snell said that for the most part they don’t really notice. They’d also been used to people wearing masks around them as those who worked at Southern Pines had always worn masks to work with them.
She continued, “We have seen some improvement in dog behavior, and less dog stress because we’ve been able to get dogs into foster, and those homes have opened up more because people are home.”
Southern Pines Animal Shelter is an open admission, no-kill shelter that works with the city of Hattiesburg and Forrest County.
The response from the public on this issue has been incredibly positive with users on twitter, such as @princess_nerdia who said, “Our pandemic pet adoption, and it really has brought a load of joy to this house.”
@erika83217260 who said, “Happy Thursday Tim. Something else wonderful that has been awesome during the pandemic. Pet Adoption has skyrocketed. So I am praying, so many animals are finding wonderful homes.” Then there’s also the feelings of @finance_orchid who said, “I totally missed the pandemic pet adoption train. Oh well.”
Article : Ryan Perry
Video: Sariah Bonds
photos: Mariah Reed
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