After pandemic pet boom, Conn. veterinarians see heavy workload
After adoptions of dogs and cats spiked during the pandemic as families worked and attended school from home, Connecticut vets say they’ve had to hire more staff to keep up with the demand for appointments.
At the Danbury Animal Welfare Society, about 1,200 dogs and cats were adopted in 2020, a “record breaking” year in the decades the society has been open, said Alice Meenan, the organization’s director of development and marketing.
The Connecticut Humane Society also saw high demand. Out of about 900 adoptions during the pandemic, the non-profit received some 2,400 applications, according to James Bias, the organization’s executive director.
But alongside the boom in pet adoptions, veterinarian services are facing a backlog of work.
Old Lyme Veterinary Hospital brought on additional staff to keep up with the demand, refilling one position and hiring a technician, a veterinary assistant and moving a receptionist to full-time.
“It’s been a very busy time, a very stressful time,” said Mary-Rose Staley, the practice’s office manager. The vet office has needed to temporarily stop accepting new patients.
Usually vets offices see a lull in their work around the winter, Staley said. But that wasn’t the case this year. “There’s been no lull since probably last April,” she said.
It’s a trend that’s played out around the country, with some practices hiring counselors to support their staff, the Associated Press reported.
Bias said part of what led to the backlog at the organization’s Newington clinic was the pause on non-essential medical procedures due to the pandemic. Just like many people stopped going to the doctor’s office for medical care deemed non-essential, vet offices also ground to a halt — in part to preserve personal protective equipment needed by hospitals. The society donated some of its N95 respirators for use in the hospitals, Bias recalled.
Because spay and neuter services were considered non-essential, a backlog formed, he said.
Agi Pace, shelter director and president of New Fairfield Sherman Animal Welfare, said the backlog in spay and neuter services has meant she’s sometimes had to call around to find appointments. One vet might have previously performed the procedures on an entire litter of cats, now they could be split up among several offices.
Along with the rise in new pet adoptions, some shelters are seeing an increase in surrenders of pets around the country, USA Today reported.
That hasn’t been the case for some Connecticut shelters.
Meenan, of the Danbury Animal Welfare Society, said the organization has had animals surrendered for reasons linked to the pandemic, including from owners who have had medical issues or died with COVID-19. Others have been surrendered due to domestic violence, finances or people downsizing to an apartment, she said.
In those situations, she said the organization has tried to keep the pet with the families.
Like vet services, DAWS has also seen a high demand for its low-cost neuter and spay program.
“We are booking in July right now,” Meenan said.
Bias said that while the organization is “bracing” for what will happen when more people return to the office or a “hybrid” workspace, most families have now had a year to bond and connect with their pets. He doesn’t suspect an “avalanche” of pet surrenders, because many people have opted to continue working remotely.
Bias attributed the demand for pet adoptions not just to the pandemic, but also because shelters have become more digitally savvy in putting their inventory of rescued animals online. Owning a rescue has also something of a point of pride, he noted.
“I will tell you there’s still people that … having a pet in the home becomes almost a life-preserver for them,” he said, recalling how adoptions spiked following 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis.
“When it gets worse, adoptions go up because animals really add something to our souls,” he said.