{"id":248225,"date":"2021-05-13T02:06:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T23:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/shelters-bracing-for-selfish-return-of-pandemic-pets\/"},"modified":"2021-05-13T02:06:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T23:06:43","slug":"shelters-bracing-for-selfish-return-of-pandemic-pets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/shelters-bracing-for-selfish-return-of-pandemic-pets\/","title":{"rendered":"#Shelters bracing for ‘selfish’ return of pandemic pets"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Shelters bracing for ‘selfish’ return of pandemic pets<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Prepare for the great doggy dump.<\/p>\n

At the height of the pandemic, animal shelters reported record high adoptions, as bored home dwellers sought out new four-legged friends to keep them company in lockdown. But with reopenings afoot, the same shelters are braced for an influx of pets due to a countrywide epidemic of buyer\u2019s remorse. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can be very selfish,\u201d Penny Smith-Berk, who owns the Rescue Right<\/a> animal shelter in Bedford, NY, told The Post. \u201cLife is opening up again. You can impulsively buy a pair of shoes and never wear it again, but there are consequences for a dog \u2014 it\u2019s excruciatingly sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many new dog owners bit off more than they could chew during the pandemic. Now, Smith-Berk said, \u201cPeople like me are left to pick up the slack, because quite a few people throw up their hands and say, \u2018I can\u2019t do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

This past week, she\u2019s been spending extra time with Blue, a newly surrendered 100-pound Cane Corso. His owners \u2014 who spent thousands of dollars on him at a pet store \u2014 admitted it was too much work taking care of him, and called it quits after only eight months.<\/p>\n

\"Shelter
Shelter owner Penny Smith-Berk said she has to \u201cpick up the slack\u201d after dogs are dumped on her.<\/figcaption>
Annie Wermiel\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey impulsively got him as a puppy \u2026 Everybody was home then and it seemed like a great idea to amuse their children, but now their children are back in school,\u201d said Smith-Berk, adding that Blue was clearly \u201cdepressed\u201d after getting kicked to the curb.<\/p>\n

And she fears for the fate of other dogs who are the victims of this rampant second-guessing. \u201cI\u2019m quite sure that animal shelters are seeing a lot of owner surrenders, which are the first dogs to get euthanized,\u201d said Smith-Berk. \u201cI\u2019m concerned about large numbers of dogs losing their life because of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Fox 35 news<\/a> aired a segment profiling a shelter in Sanford, Fla., that\u2019s recently seen a big influx of pet returns. And the problem extends beyond just the US \u2014 Bloomberg Quicktake found<\/a> that the same heartbreaking trend can be seen across the pond, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s going to happ<\/a>en as people gradually return to offices, people start thinking about taking holidays as well,\u201d Peter Laurie, chief executive of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London, told the outlet in response to news that returns of dogs and cats to local shelters had doubled over the past few months.<\/p>\n

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\"Dog
Dog trainer Jessica Del Guercio with \u201cre-homed\u201d doodle mix Penny.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Greenwich, Connecticut-based dog trainer Jessica Del Guercio said she\u2019s witnessing the same thing going on among her well-heeled clients.<\/p>\n

Del Guercio, who charges upward of $5,000 to train a dog and has seen a huge spike in business throughout the pandemic, told The Post that overwhelmed owners are now throwing in the towel. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019m going to Kennebunkport \u2014 I don\u2019t feel like bringing my dog,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The founder of Paws of Greenwich<\/a> said people made emotional decisions during lockdown, but the realities of pet ownership can be sobering. \u201cPeople are like, \u2018We\u2019re going to buy all these puppies because we have nothing to do.\u2019 They assume it\u2019s easy, but they haven\u2019t had a dog since their childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, \u201cI know at least a dozen personally\u201d of returned dogs, Del Guercio said, and she has \u201cre-homed\u201d a handful of hounds herself. And mutts, they were not \u2014 some of the dogs were exotic specimens costing upward of $15,000, plus price of a \u201cflight nanny\u201d to deliver the pet from a breeder who lives across the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cDogs are looked at like a luxury item \u2014 if it\u2019s not up to their expectations, they can return it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But pet owners hoping to give puppies back to pet stores are barking up the wrong tree, said Smith-Berk. <\/p>\n

\u201cA pet store will never take an animal back \u2014 they don\u2019t care if it\u2019s not working out. And rescue organizations can\u2019t take it back \u2014 they have no place for it to go,\u201d said Smith-Berk. \u201cThe default here is that these animals will wind up in shelters and that\u2019s a terrible reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she hopes people will see this ruff news and think twice before giving up a dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cA pet is a member of your family, it has the intelligence of a small child, so you\u2019re basically returning your 2-year-old child,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t get that.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n