We acquired Armani, pictured, in October 2021.  Armani was 18 months old having been born in April 2020 and acquired by her first family.  Whilst we were not told too much about Armani’s first 18 months she does appear to be one of the animal casualties of Lockdown:  acquired in March 2020 probably as a source of comfort for a family who like everyone else faced an extraordinary period marked by Covid 19 pandemic but then sent to the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home once life started to return to normal.  As I gazed into all the pens, full of cats, at Battersea I wanted to understand a little more about what had happened at during the course of the pandemic.

It is not surprising that there was a rush for pets at the start of lockdown.  Families who would normally be at their places of work and school found that by Government legal requirement they were not to leave their home except for special purposes such as exercise or shopping.  Faced with the uncertainty of how long this form of home imprisonment would remain in place many people decided to seek a new member of the family.  Dogs and cats which would bring companionship, love and comfort became even more highly sought after.  The huge surge in demand caused prices to rise by 300% [Travfurler 5/05/21].

A large proportion of those getting pets were doing so for the first time.  Many did not fully appreciate the commitment that they were taking on or what pet ownership involved.  As a result of the unusual times during which the pets were acquired there were other aspects of settling in pets properly which were not able to happen as usual.  For example there was limited access to veterinary care, or face to face pet training.  Dogs were not introduced to other dogs at the park due to the stay at home requirement.  As lockdown restrictions were lifted those who were working from home returned to their normal place of work and children returned to their schools.  It was at that point that many families realised that the pets they so craved when restricted to their homes were now a burden on them and unfortunately the decision was made to send them for rehousing.  Battersea’s experienced a tsunami of unwanted pets.  

I was familiar with the saying that “A Dogs for life not just for Christmas” it seems to me that the same statement equally applied when replacing  Christmas with Lockdown.  Unfortunately this message has not made it through to the British Public.  I am pleased that we have been able to give a new home to one of the animal victims of lockdown.  I don’t know what she went through but certainly believe that now she is happy.  I hope that all those other lockdown pets who became a burden for their owners also find new homes and happiness in a future covid free world.