Pandemic Puppy Phenomenon - a pending crisis in the UK
Dogs Trust reported a 50% rise of pet owners calling to hand over their dogs in 2021
Photo credit - Tanya Lynch
When I was doing some research about the increase of dog ownership since Covid 19 Pandemic entered our world, I was surprised at the how many dogs were now in the UK. I wasn’t sure what the the number was going to be. I never imagined it to be 13 million dogs and I had two of them. I didn’t just buy one Rhodesian Ridgeback but I decided to buy a second - a male named Obi born in August 2020 and a female named Nya born in May 2021. My reasons for buying a puppy wasn’t down to being in lockdown. I had always had a dog in my life and was ready to have another, but because I lived in rented accommodation in 2019 it wasn’t feasible to have dogs. My circumstances changed soon after the lockdown and within a few months I had made the decision to become a new dog owner.
If I could turn back time, would I still consider buying a dog. The honest answer is a big fat NO. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my dogs, but owning this particular breed with relentless medical issues and detachment anxiety, they have turned my life upside down. Is it just me going through the challenges and the struggles or are there other dog owners like me? Whilst out walking the dogs, I’d always wonder how many Pandemic Puppy owners are struggling to afford the escalating dog costs. How many are feeling stressed with the ongoing dog issues? Who has taken the decision to re-home their dog and at what lengths did they go to before they did so? So many unanswered questions. If you are reading this and bought a puppy during lockdown please connect with me or leave a comment, I’d love to hear about your experience.
As a new dog owner, I received an email asking if I’d like to take part in a puppy survey. Launched in 2020, the Pandemic Puppies survey was sent out by the Royal Veterinary Centre. It was initially funded by the AWF - the Animal Welfare Foundation to investigate how, why and by whom puppies were purchased during the COVID pandemic in the UK and to compare this with puppies purchased in 2019.
I was super curious about what the results would show from the survey, so I jumped at the opportunity to participate. Wondering all along would they ever ask me if I had regretted buying a puppy and could I answer it and be brutally honest. Would they ask if I was feeling stressed about the responsibilities of being a dog owner and did I ever realise what it was going to cost me financially?
As you can imagine it was a very thorough and in-depth survey, asking all sorts of questions about the behaviour of the puppy, what he eats, where he sleeps, how much money on average have I spent since he entered my life. I could have written hundreds of words, I had so much to say about my new puppy.
As a result of that initial survey, which attracted over 7545 responses, two peer-reviewed papers have been published.
The first paper explores the behaviour and motivations of owners who bought a puppy during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, whilst the second paper examines the impact of the pandemic on the early lives of puppies purchased during 2020. These are available to read for free - and I highly recommend you read it if you’re considering buying a puppy anytime soon.
After participating in the survey, every 6 months since 2020, I dived deep into the topic of the pandemic puppy phenomenon. It was obvious from reading news articles that experts were warning of a puppy health and welfare crisis across the UK, mainly due to the way people had gone about buying a puppy. I’m intrigued by what the survey results will deliver, what the experts will learn from it and how our nation of dog lovers will cope and adapt over the course of time.
PAWS FOR THOUGHT - I’m sat here wondering what will become of all the puppies from the pandemic. How many will go on to live a fulfilled and enriched life, but how many of those, now 2 year old dogs, will have been abandoned by their owner, re-homed, picked up by a rescue shelter or even worse, sadly lost their life due to ill health or serious neglect.
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Until the next time, take care and stay safe x