Pets Are Lifesavers During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Along with the global pandemic came lockdowns, isolation, job losses, and mental health declines. Since the start of this outbreak, we as humans have begun to crave human to human contact but were unable to get it.

Luckily, there was an answer to our prayers. Some studies out of the University of South Australia have shown that since the start of this pandemic, dog and cat adoptions have been raised by 20%. In interviews with 32 people, around 90% of them said that cuddling and playing with their animals comforted and relaxed them in this time of trauma. In the past years, the money spent on pet adoptions reached $13 billion, but now in 2020, this number has topped $260 billion.

It’s now estimated that more than half of the world has dogs or cats. The positive health benefits of having a dog or even a cat are endless, but specific benefits are being studied in terms of physical touch. When humans are experiencing an absence of human touch, our dogs and cats can help. It’s believed that dogs are some of the only living beings that many people are able to touch and draw comfort from.

Many dog parents claim that their dogs can sense when they are in need of the most comfort, which is ideal for situations such as a global pandemic. Dogs have an innate ability to get physically close to people who aren’t feeling well and give comfort to them. Now, studies are beginning to show that our dogs also get as much pleasure from interactions as we do!