Adoptions in These Strange Times
Adoptions in These Unusual Times:
-Helen Morrison
I had an interesting call several weeks ago. It was from a local woman, looking for a kitten for her granddaughter to adopt. I asked her how old her granddaughter was. She was eight. I suggested that perhaps her parents might want to apply for a kitten for their daughter. I did tell her that, at that time, we didn’t have any kittens ready to be adopted. I asked where this family lived. Boston. I suggested that perhaps a Shelter in the Boston area might have a cat or kitten that would be a good fit. The woman said there were none to be had. Wow.
What has emerged over the several months of COVID-19 in our lives, with us in a stay-at-home mode, is a huge demand for adopting pets, specifically cats and dogs. Some shelters have very few animals; some have no animals at all.
I totally understand wanting to have a new companion in these times, and a pet can be a wonderful solution. But there are certainly some things to be mindful of before adopting. These dogs and cats will go into a home with lots of attention, because everyone is at home most of the time. But at some point, that will change, and life will go on to some new form of normal, with the family presumably back out at work or school. And the pet, so used to all that company, is now alone for most of the day, without folks’ almost undivided attention. If one is thinking about adopting or has already done so during these times, it is well in the interest of the humans and the new pets to plan how to make a transition in lifestyle that will still provide long term for lots of love and human contact for the new pet.
Kingdom Animal Shelter has continued to receive and process applications for adoptions during this time. We have been able to use Zoom to meet the families, see the home, meet their pets, and have the applicants meet the fosters and the cat in a home setting. It has been very successful...and you will read about some of these later in this newsletter. We have been very careful not to have these be any kind of short companion stop-gap...but rather an adoption that looks into the future, beyond COVID-19, to a home that is a positive, loving, attentive life for the cat or kitten for years to come.
If you or someone you know is wanting to adopt a pet in these unusual times, it would be good to consider one’s present life-style situation and any challenges in that situation. A pet can add so much to our lives. But the decision needs to be done carefully and with the long view in one’s mind and heart.
If you are interested in a bit more information about the right time to adopt a pet, please check into the following link from our website: https://www.paws.org/resources/best-time-to-adopt-a-pet/
If you find yourself with any questions or concerns about adoptions, give us a call or email us. We would be glad to try to help. [email protected] or 802-473-3377.
Wishing us all, humans and pets alike, patience, peace, good companionship, and love in these new times.