SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – With more people spending time at home during the pandemic, pet adoptions have risen. As a result, shelters have emptied at an unusual rate. Though it is natural to associate COVID-19 related isolation as a main reason, it’s not the only cause. In Syracuse, the HumaneCNY shelter has seen similar trends.
“What we have seen is a decrease in owner surrenders,” HumaneCNY Director Maureen Davison said. “So through the pandemic, we were hardly getting any owner surrenders so there were a lot of times when there might have been one or two dogs here.”
HumaneCNY is a donation-funded, no-kill shelter. Though seeing more dogs and cats get homes is a positive development for animal lovers, it has created challenges for the shelters to keep getting requests. Davison doesn’t expect things to get any easier with holiday season approaching.
“I would say we’re going to start to see some higher numbers coming up through November and December of people wanting to adopt,” Davison said. “Especially as we’re seeing more uptick of COVID cases.”
Without more arrivals, Davison and other shelters may not be able to provide families with the new pets they desire. As COVID-19 restrictions ease and pet owners go back to work, shelters may end up seeing normal numbers of animals present in the facilities sometime soon.
