"You shouldn't have got one": animal adoption center laments increase in dog returns after pandemic

Record ID: 1625572

  • Title: "You shouldn't have got one": animal adoption center laments increase in dog returns after pandemic
  • Date: 8th July 2021
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 1, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANIMAL RESCUER AND DIRECTOR, GLEN ZIPPER, SAYING: "I don't have any regrets leaving being a prosecutor behind because when I was a prosecutor, I didn't feel like I was effectuating any change in the world around me. We don't need to talk about the criminal justice system and the issues with it but it's like a revolving door - one person in, one person out, rinse, wash, repeat. Working with animals and finding homes for animals and helping save animals' lives, I feel like I have a purpose and feel like I'm doing something important and with the show 'Dogs' and with the show 'Cat People', spreading that gospel about helping animals, about saving animals. Every morning I wake up and I feel like I'm making a difference." VARIOUS OF ESPERIQUETTE STROKING MARLA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEVELOPMENT CO-ORDINATOR, WAGS, AND WALKS, CHLOE ESPERIQUETTE, SAYING: "A lot of the dogs that do come to us, though, come to us because they were inconvenient to somebody and they were dropped off at a shelter, versus it being something that's wrong with them. So we really like to show people that they are not damaged goods, that they were just a problem for somebody for some reason and they ended up in the shelter for something that wasn't really their fault and they didn't really deserve." DOG BEING TAKEN OUT OF KENNEL
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2021 17:36
  • Keywords: Dogs adoption adoption agencies isolation pandemic pounds quarantine returns shelters surrenders
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA003EKZCDVR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: During the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, people in Los Angeles found different ways to occupy their time.
    But as the months dragged on, many turned to animal shelters, looking for company during isolation, and adoptions spiked.
    Now restrictions have been completely lifted across the city, many dogs are being returned to adoption agencies.
    Chloe Esperiquette, the development coordinator at Wags and Walks adoption center in Los Angeles said "In the rescue world, we kind of saw it coming."
    She added "We received prior to the pandemic like five or 10, five to 10 inquiries per month for people who couldn't care for their dogs anymore. That's now increased to in-the-20s per month, so that's like doubled since in recent months."
    Wags and Walks, like many shelters and adoption agencies, is back to full capacity.
    Esperiquette told Reuters, "Every year in the United States, 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized. 670,000 of those are dogs so here at Wags, we save approximately 1,000 dogs a year. It's definitely not enough."
    Animal activist Glen Zipper had a chance encounter with a Pitbull puppy he found on the street. He took it to the nearest shelter, where, to his horror, he was told the puppy would be euthanized.
    Zipper wants to warn those who can no longer take care of their pets to think twice before returning animals to shelters or adoption agencies.
    He said "If you reach a wall with an animal where you really don't think you can responsibly care for a dog, I think the last thing you should do is immediately go to the shelter. Let people know that you can't care for your dog, say that your dog is up for adoption, and let people come to you and meet the dog and make sure that you choose someone who can responsibly care for that dog and give that dog every bit as much love as you can."
    Zipper quit his position as a criminal prosecutor in New Jersey to work at the shelter he'd taken the puppy to. He even spared the animal's life by adopting him.
    He is currently making a docuseries for Netflix on animals. The second season of 'Dogs' has just begun streaming, as has his new series 'Cat People'.
    Zipper said "Working with animals and finding homes for animals and helping save animals' lives, I feel like I have a purpose and feel like I'm doing something important and with the show 'Dogs' and with the show 'Cat People', spreading that gospel about helping animals, about saving animals. Every morning I wake up and I feel like I'm making a difference."
    Esperiquette wants to do the same.
    She said "A lot of the dogs that do come to us, though, come to us because they were inconvenient to somebody and they were dropped off at a shelter, versus it being something that's wrong with them. So we really like to show people that they are not damaged goods, that they were just a problem for somebody for some reason and they ended up in the shelter for something that wasn't really their fault and they didn't really deserve."
    Allison Cardona, the deputy director of Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control, which oversees animal shelters, said that, while they hadn't seen an increase in returns of dogs adopted directly from the shelters during the pandemic, they had seen a marked increase in surrenders in recent months.
    Surrenders occur when someone doesn't have the financial or housing means to look after a dog. She said the economic impact of the pandemic on poorer communities showed a direct correlation to the surrender of dogs.
    (Production: Rollo Ross, Sandra Stojanovic)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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