Hit with boredom and loneliness during the lockdown period, many people started adopting pets for companionship. As many faced mental health issues from sitting inside closed doors, they adopted pets to make their lockdowns less lonely. While adopting furry friends during the lockdown became a trend very quickly, the trend disowning them post lockdown also seems to be catching on.

Animal shelters that recorded high adoption rates during the lockdown, are now recording the same number of abandonment rates as well. On a daily basis so many dogs and cats are returned back to the shelter from where they were adopted, as people have started returning to their routine life. Some owners are also at a buyer’s remorse stage where they want to relinquish older puppies that are even more difficult to maintain.

But, this is not the only case. Many pets were also abandoned on the streets, in marketplaces, roadsides and parks. According to a Pet Homelessness measure launched by Mars Petcare and Animal advisory board experts there was an increase in people wanting to adopt pets in India where ‘six out of ten’ felt encouraged to adopt one. But, the same measure now says that pet relinquishment rate is higher than the global 28%, because in India, 50% of the pet owners have relinquished a pet in the past.

The measure also says that 34% had abandoned a dog on the streets while 34% abandoned cats. A lot of pets were also abandoned at the beginning of the pandemic when there were rumours that Pets could carry COVID infections, and there was not much awareness about the virus.