{"id":2935,"date":"2022-03-03T14:58:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T14:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/?p=2935"},"modified":"2022-03-03T14:58:06","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T14:58:06","slug":"the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-us-and-our-furry-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/2022\/03\/03\/the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-us-and-our-furry-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"The Impact of the Pandemic on us and our Furry Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The time we all spent in lock\u00addown was hard and many of us expe\u00adri\u00adenced feel\u00adings of lone\u00adli\u00adness. A lot of peo\u00adple felt that buy\u00ading a pet or sim\u00adply spend\u00ading more time with their pet was a good way to fight the pan\u00addem\u00adic blues. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first glance, the trend of adopt\u00ading ani\u00admals seems a pos\u00adi\u00adtive side effect of the pan\u00addem\u00adic. Many ani\u00admals found a lov\u00ading home and in our local ani\u00admal shel\u00adter in Zurich, Switzer\u00adland, there were only three dogs left at times com\u00adpared to about ten nor\u00admal\u00adly. I was able to talk to Rom\u00admy Los, the like\u00adable, blue-eyed man\u00adag\u00ader of the \u201cZ\u00fcrcher Tier\u00adschutz\u201d (Zurich Ani\u00admal Pro\u00adtec\u00adtion) shel\u00adter right next to Zurich Zoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ani\u00admal shel\u00adters exist because peo\u00adple buy a pet, then some\u00adthing in their lifestyle changes and they are forced to give the ani\u00admal away. Now, due to the pan\u00addem\u00adic, more peo\u00adple have bought pets. In Ger\u00admany there has been a dras\u00adtic increase of 1 mil\u00adlion pets from 2019 to 2020 as pub\u00adlished by the IHV (Indus\u00adtrie\u00adver\u00adband Heimtiere Ger\u00admany<\/a>). Some of them with\u00adout a full under\u00adstand\u00ading of what buy\u00ading and own\u00ading an ani\u00admal means. Rom\u00admy Los feels peo\u00adple tend to \u201cgo with the flow\u201d, not wor\u00adry\u00ading about what the future may bring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lock\u00addown led to a mas\u00adsive increase in demand for dogs. Accord\u00ading to Tier Sta\u00adtis\u00adtik Iden\u00adti\u00adtas<\/em><\/a>, an orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion which devel\u00adops and oper\u00adates soft\u00adware for the iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion, reg\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion and the mon\u00adi\u00adtor\u00ading of live\u00adstock and com\u00adpan\u00adion ani\u00admals in Switzer\u00adland, the num\u00adber of dog own\u00aders in Switzer\u00adland at the begin\u00adning of 2020 was around 400\u2019000, but by the end of 2022 there were around  40\u2019000 more which is a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant dif\u00adfer\u00adence to the year of 2018 to 2019 where the increase was only about 10\u2019000 \u2013 and the lock\u00addown expe\u00adri\u00adence affect\u00aded the pets them\u00adselves as well as their own\u00aders. The increase in demand led not only to emp\u00adti\u00ader ani\u00admal shel\u00adters, but also to over\u00adflow\u00ading ani\u00admal hos\u00adpi\u00adtals and pets with behav\u00adior prob\u00adlems, as I was informed by Aure\u00adlia Keller, a fifty-three-year-old local vet\u00aderi\u00adnary prac\u00adtice assis\u00adtant with many years of expe\u00adri\u00adence at a pop\u00adu\u00adlar clin\u00adic. She told me: \u201cThe lock\u00addown led to many dogs not hav\u00ading enough con\u00adtact with oth\u00ader dogs which result\u00aded in dogs with abnor\u00admal behav\u00adior and con\u00adcerned owners.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sup\u00adply of ani\u00admals, espe\u00adcial\u00adly pup\u00adpies in Switzer\u00adland and oth\u00ader west\u00adern coun\u00adtries, was not able to keep up with the demand, as accord\u00ading to Tier\u00adsta\u00adtis\u00adtik Iden\u00adti\u00adtas<\/em><\/a>in August of 2021 imports of dogs peaked at about 4000 import\u00aded dogs, com\u00adpared to the aver\u00adage amount of about 2500 imports per month. Accord\u00ading to dogstrust.org.uk<\/a> the prices for dif\u00adfer\u00adent dog breeds in the UK have all increased con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably. The most dra\u00admat\u00adic dif\u00adfer\u00adence was for the \u201cChow Chow\u201d breed. The aver\u00adage price for a pedi\u00adgree dog went up from \u00a31\u2019119 to \u00a32\u2019618. That is an increase of 134 per\u00adcent. As a result, peo\u00adple start\u00aded search\u00ading for more afford\u00adable ani\u00admals, or some\u00adtimes just any pet at all. This is where the \u201cPup\u00adpy  Prob\u00adlem\u201d starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/figure>\n
Dog from the ani\u00admal shel\u00adter (Foto von Elias Baumann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrade in young pedi\u00adgree ani\u00admals of all species is flour\u00adish\u00ading. In the Coro\u00adna year 2020, espe\u00adcial\u00adly the demand for dogs from abroad increased dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly\u201d the ani\u00admal wel\u00adfare orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion VierP\u00adfoten<\/em><\/a> shared. Rom\u00admy Los empha\u00adsized that the prob\u00adlem is very com\u00adplex, and the pos\u00adsi\u00adble solu\u00adtion depends on which sub\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnate issue is addressed. For exam\u00adple, the ille\u00adgal import of pup\u00adpies must be con\u00adtrolled through leg\u00adis\u00adla\u00adtion but inform\u00ading peo\u00adple about the risks of import\u00ading cheap pup\u00adpies from poten\u00adtial\u00adly bad breed\u00aders must be done at a more local level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prob\u00adlems described above leads Rom\u00admy Los to expect\u00ading a larg\u00ader intake of ani\u00admals in the near future, although there was a tem\u00adpo\u00adrary decline of housed ani\u00admals. Ani\u00admal wel\u00adfare orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtions all over the world are work\u00ading hard to raise aware\u00adness about this, with detailed infor\u00adma\u00adtion pam\u00adphlets and cam\u00adpaigns for adopt\u00ading a dog from the ani\u00admal shel\u00adter instead of import\u00ading one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both experts I talked to agreed that even if the buy\u00aders of a new pet are con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adate, have informed them\u00adselves and think they have found the per\u00adfect addi\u00adtion to their fam\u00adi\u00adly, there can be pit\u00adfalls. Aure\u00adlia Keller shared a shock\u00ading sto\u00adry with me. A cus\u00adtomer came in with a new pup\u00adpy, which was import\u00aded from an area where urban rabies exists. A shot was there\u00adfore required, and the own\u00ader had papers to prove this shot had been admin\u00adis\u00adtered. A dog with rabies can pass this dan\u00adger\u00adous dis\u00adease to oth\u00ader ani\u00admals. But the num\u00adbers didn\u2019t add up. The papers claimed the pup\u00adpy had been giv\u00aden the shot at four months old, but the pup\u00adpy which came in with the cus\u00adtomer was too young for that to be pos\u00adsi\u00adble. There was no way the papers were cor\u00adrect. The pup\u00adpy was con\u00adfis\u00adcat\u00aded by the police with\u00adin two hours of the appoint\u00adment at the vet, as it posed a poten\u00adtial dan\u00adger for oth\u00ader dogs, to the huge dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00adment of the fam\u00adi\u00adly which had just wel\u00adcomed it into their household. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covid-19 and the sub\u00adse\u00adquent lock\u00addown cre\u00adat\u00aded an inter\u00adre\u00adlat\u00aded prob\u00adlem which we are now being forced to address more active\u00adly. It\u2019s true that ani\u00admals can improve people\u2019s qual\u00adi\u00adty of life and even help with their men\u00adtal health \u2014 but when you buy an ani\u00admal you must remem\u00adber that you are now respon\u00adsi\u00adble for its phys\u00adi\u00adcal and emo\u00adtion\u00adal well\u00adbe\u00ading. As Rom\u00admy Los put it: \u201cCats can live up to the age of 20 and dogs to about 15. Dur\u00ading that peri\u00adod the own\u00aders\u2019 lives are almost cer\u00adtain to change. If peo\u00adple do not think about the future enough, seri\u00adous con\u00adse\u00adquences can fol\u00adlow. This is what must be prevented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The time we all spent in lock\u00addown was hard and many of us expe\u00adri\u00adenced feel\u00adings of lone\u00adli\u00adness. A lot of peo\u00adple felt that buy\u00ading a pet or sim\u00adply spend\u00ading more time with their pet was a good way to fight the pan\u00addem\u00adic blues.  At first glance, the trend of adopt\u00ading ani\u00admals seems a pos\u00adi\u00adtive side effect\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2957,"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2935\/revisions\/2957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmiu.ch\/rgnews2022\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}