More time working virtually since March — whether for work as an employee or in classes as a student — has meant some in Auburn and Lee County have spent more time at home. For some, that’s been more time alone than they were accustomed to, which makes having a furry friend more appealing now than ever.
That’s been the reality for Abbey Crank, junior in journalism. Crank adopted a hamster named Niff three weeks ago in part because of pandemic-era loneliness and because her past hamster of two years died last month.
“I don’t think it was because of the pandemic [directly], but it did play a part in it,” Crank said. “I live alone in a condo here, and I have anxiety. To make myself feel better, I got my first hamster.”
She hasn’t been the only one taking in a new pet. Lee County Humane Society experienced a significant increase in pet fosters, largely dogs and cats, in the spring. At its peak around April, the shelter had 80% of its animal population in foster care, according to Bailey Ray, foster coordinator for LCHS.
“[That] has not been achieved in all the time I have been the foster coordinator since October 2016,” Ray said. “The only other time we have gotten close to that number was during an emergency situation in the summer of 2019. We had an electrical problem that left the shelter without power for several days, and we had to evacuate every pet for their safety.”
Ray said many new pet fosters and owners were students whose roommates returned home during the spring semester, when Auburn University’s classes transitioned to remote learning.
“Everybody went for spring break, and a lot of people never came back,” Ray said. “A lot of the students who were reaching out were saying, ‘I have a four-bedroom apartment now, and I’m the only one who chose to stay, so I need a companion.’”
Doug Hankes, director of Auburn University’s Student Counseling and Psychological Services, said he isn’t surprised. Hankes has continued to see students virtually for appointments, some of whom have told him they were thinking of welcoming in a new animal roommate.
“A lot of our clients have talked with us at the counseling center, [saying] ‘I really wish I had a dog,’” he said. “With the quarantine and everything else, people were home, and they had way more time on their hands and less … things to do.”
Just because students had less responsibilities to worry about during quarantine, Hankes said new pet owners should be aware having an animal isn’t one single responsibility — it’s several. For some, adopting and fostering can backfire, adding more work than it may be personally worth.
“If you’ve got the time and you take the responsibility, I think the payoff is amazing, but for others instead of being a stress reducer it can be just another stressor,” Hankes said.
At LCHS, however, Ray said adopters have stayed committed to their newfound pets rather than returning them because they were a mental burden.
“I believe the majority of returns we saw during the summer were due to general life changes during the pandemic, such as moving to a new place that did not allow pets or people losing their jobs and not being able to financially provide for their pets,” Ray said.
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Tim Nail, junior in journalism, is the campus editor for The Auburn Plainsman.
