What is it about cuddling up to a furry friend that many of us find so enjoyable? For some, spending time with their pet is more meaningful than spending time with a person. Losing a pet may even be more devastating than losing a loved one. Most of us don’t see animals or pets on an equal footing to our own kind, yet our pets, along with animals in general, may have more in common with us than we think.
Before the onset of COVID-19 half the people in the world owned a pet, and Australia was ranked second in the world for pet adoptions, second only to the US. Since COVID began, dog and cat adoptions increased by a whopping 250 per cent worldwide, with Australia having the highest number of Google searches for pet adoptions over any other country in the world. Lockdowns, loss of employment and working from home led to more time at home, and those with few family and friends experienced long periods of isolation, along with uncertainty and anxiety bought on by the pandemic. It’s not surprising many sought the company of a pet to cope. On the downside many pets were discarded and mistreated, possibly due to fears they
