Instead Of Returning The Dog You Adopted During Lockdown, Do This

LOADING ERROR LOADING It was one of the few genuinely positive stories to come out of the COVID-19 crisis: At the height of the pandemic, with so many of us working from home, animal shelters across the nation reported that they didn’t have enough dogs to meet the demand. “The majority of adopters use the ‘I no longer have time’ excuse while others claim they can no longer ‘handle’ their dog,” Jones said. Early on in the pandemic, Jones said her group changed its adoption application to include questions directly related to the quarantine situation: “How will you transition your dog to being alone once you return to work?” for instance, or “How will you accommodate your dog’s training and exercise needs during and after quarantine?” Even so, some dog adopters have struggled to navigate that transition with their pets. “We would much rather pet owners do the responsible thing of contacting a rescue center than putting a pet’s welfare at risk by selling it online or abandoning it somewhere,” said Rob Young, the head of center operations at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London. “We aren’t ever here to judge people for the reasons behind giving up their pet.” “Just as if our world got turned upside down we would be confused, so too are dogs, except they don’t understand why this is happening.” - Nicole Ellis, a dog trainer and pet lifestyle expert at Rover Of course, even returning a pet to a rescue center or no-kill shelter can be traumatic, said Nicole Ellis, a dog trainer and pet lifestyle expert at Rover, a dog-sitting and dog-walking app.