Only Jerks Rent Dogs

Pandemic pets are being returned

Can we suck any more?

We’re so craven in 2021 that we’re returning the pooches we adopted in 2020.

That is low.

The idea that single, young people felt they needed companion animals to ride out the storm is pathetic enough, but to simply dispose of the animals, willy-nilly, shows that these folks are not just weak and oversensitive, but they are also absolutely cold-hearted when it comes to caring for the needs of anyone but themselves.

Pandemic begins: “I can’t bear to be alone. I’m being emotionally victimized. I need a dog.”

Pandemic ends: “Sayonara, pooch, I don’t need you anymore.”

As reported by Fortune.com:

Animal Care Centers of NYC saw 1,393 animals brought to them last month, more than twice the number of dogs and cats surrendered in February. Exact numbers weren’t available in Los Angeles, but Reuters reports the trend is on the rise there as well.

In Dallas, people are leaving bags of kittens and their mother on doorsteps and intakes at the Humane Society of Dallas County are twice as high as they were before the pandemic. And in Philadelphia, return rates are on the rise—and the number of foster homes is dwindling.

That is just bad form.

And the pets being returned are the lucky ones. One woman wrote back in June about her experience of adopting a beagle and then deciding to have her euthanized within about five months due to her behavioral problems.

While this dog clearly had very difficult problems, a newbie dog owner living in a city apartment should never have adopted a six-year-old dog with an unknown and obviously traumatic history in the first place.

Treating a complex living creature with its own emotional needs as a disposable lifestyle accessory is evidence of a deeply selfish and broken society.

Those of us who own pets know they are a lot of work. They bring with them their own unique universes of challenges.

However, when you adopt a pet you’ve made a compact with another living being that depends entirely on you. At least with a dog, you are likely to be its everything. Dogs love their owners and though mine follows me around every damned second of the day, when she went away with my family on vacation I missed her presence.

A pet brings a special energy to the house - we are surprised at how much - until they’re gone.

You can’t return your dog to the pound, or have him put down just because he cramps your style. Figure it out.

That little being is 1,000% loyal to you. He deserves a little coming back to him.