Ms Shannon, who lives in Melbourne’s south east, said dogs need to be taught the correct way of behaving in much the same way as children do. “It’s a nice safe environment, they are generally around the same size and you have someone there to control the interaction.” “ Puppy school is such as an important part of a dog’s life, not just from teaching them to sit and general obedience, but also how to interact with other puppies,” she said. The best way to socialise a “COVID companion” is to get them to puppy school, where they can have a positive experience in a controlled environment, said Dog Behaviourist, TV Host and PETstock Ambassador, Lara Shannon. They’re losing a family member,” Ms Davy said.The thousands of Australians who got themselves a ‘pandemic puppy’ are being urged to start socialising their furry friends as soon as possible.Īustralians have been adopting and fostering pets in droves since COVID hit, with animal shelters inundated with applications from people who used the time spent at home to introduce a new family member.īut as restrictions ease and life gets back to normal, dog behaviourists are calling on people to start socialising their puppies now to ensure they grow into happy, well behaved dogs. She said those people forced to surrender their pets found it extremely difficult. They’re currently doing 3000 meals each week for one area in Melbourne,” Ms Davy said. “One of our rescue groups does food packages for people. “The idea that all the pets are being dumped, it is just not happening,” she said.īut PetRescue has seen an increase in people contacting them for financial help or guidance. Ms Davy said the idea that people had irresponsibly adopted an animal during the pandemic and were now returning it was just “not true”. In 2020, 4131 pets were surrendered to the RSPCA across the country, compared to 4876 in 2019. This was a huge turnaround from 2019 when most (20 per cent) of the pets were surrendered because people had too many animals.Īnd contrary to recent reports, the data from the RSPCA suggests fewer pets were surrendered in 2020 than in 2019. That was followed by 12 per cent of people who said they had too many pets, 8 per cent who said it was because they needed to move, and 7 per cent who ticked a box labelled ‘other’.Ī further 6 per cent said the reason they surrendered their pet was that they could not provide vet treatment. People who always wanted a dog but were waiting for the right time thought, ‘Why wait, why not now’.”Īmid sky-high demand for puppies, some shelters have been recording a spike in animal surrenders, which has caused some welfare groups to warn would-be-pet owners to think about post-lockdown life before adopting a new pet.īut statistics from the RSPCA released exclusively to The New Daily reveal the main reason people have surrendered their pets this year – unlike in previous years – is financial stress.īetween the start of this year and the end of April, 1540 pets were surrendered to the RSPCA, with 24 per cent of people saying they did this because they could not afford basic care. “One of the things about lockdown is, it makes people reassess their lives and look at what’s important,” Ms Davy said. Pets are spending an average of 16 days with PetRescue before finding new homes, and some pets, including small dogs and puppies, are receiving hundreds of applications. But that number is now hovering between 40 as pets find new owners much quicker. This has resulted in record numbers of animals being adopted during the pandemic.īefore COVID-19, PetRescue would have an average of 9000 to 10,000 pets listed for adoption at any one time. With many states yoyo-ing in and out of lockdown, Australians are spending more time at home and walking more regularly around their neighbourhoods. More time spent at home is encouraging us to buy more pets. New South Wales in particular is going through a pet adoption frenzy: The number of pets adopted since July 26 is up 15.7 per cent on the previous three months and the total number of inquiries is up 54.5 per cent. “We’re seeing that in the last three months, we have had 4000 dogs all adopted, and 10,000 cats all adopted.”
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