The COVID-19 pandemic didn鈥檛 lead to a baby boom that many were anticipating, but it certainly resulted in a puppy boom.

The BC SPCA says the amount of interest in adopting a dog, or any pet for that matter, has rocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

And even though the province is nearing two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for a family pet is still prevalent, said SPCA communications manager Lorie Chortyk.

鈥淲e really saw an increased demand in applications for adoptions. It wasn鈥檛 that we had more animals in our care, but there was more people applying for each animal,鈥� Chortyk said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been very fortunate in that our animals do find homes fairly quickly. It鈥檚 a matter of days, not months, that animals are in our care.鈥�

Chortyk said it鈥檚 not uncommon for the SPCA to receive up to 100 applications for an puppy or small dog, as those are fairly desirable in terms of adoption.

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But it鈥檚 not just pups that are finding new owners. Chortyk said everything from guinea pigs to horses are being quickly re-homed.

鈥淭here are more people seeking animals. For the animals, it was a wonderful thing because more people were looking for them. I think it just really spoke to the value that animals bring to our lives. That companionship and the unconditional love,鈥� Chortyk said.

鈥淔or many people, it was their pet who got them through the pandemic.鈥�

Chortyk said the SPCA heard anecdotally that pets were particularly beneficial for people who lived alone. It gave them a bond when social networks were turned upside down, she said.

鈥淐oming home to a place where there鈥檚 a creature there who鈥檚 waiting to greet you. Someone to talk to, even if they are not talking back. There is just so much about the relationship and the bond with animals that I think is so important to humans,鈥� Chortyk said.

Earlier this year, news stories started to emerge out of the U.S. reporting a new crisis of people returning pandemic dogs to shelters. There鈥檚 conflicting reports if that was ever an actual issue, but Chortyk assured it鈥檚 not a problem in B.C.

鈥淲e have 36 shelters across the province and we just have not seen that,鈥� Chortyk said. 鈥淲e always have a low return rate but it decreased during COVID, it didn鈥檛 increase.鈥�

While the COVID-19 has been great for dogs, it鈥檚 had some drawbacks.

Surrey-based Cloud Nine Canine dog daycare almost had to close down in the early days of the pandemic because dog owners didn鈥檛 require the service if they were working from home.

鈥淥n our end, we saw very quiet days. It鈥檚 a big shift, it was a bit of a struggle. We stayed open because we didn鈥檛 want to close while all of the essential services were running and needing someone to watch their dogs. We also have a lot of EMTs (paramedics) that bring their dogs, as well,鈥� Cloud Nine owner Renata Iannone said.

Iannone said they secured government funding and hedged a bet there would be a puppy boom. It paid off. Once taking in less than 10 days a day, Iannone said business increased to more than 40 dogs a day.

But a drawback to the pandemic, Iannone said, is that many of the new dogs that are sent to dog daycare, particularly if their owner has been working from home, had severe cases of separation anxiety.

鈥淲e know how to work with it, but the amount of dogs, all of a sudden. I can tell what age they are and at what point they were brought home based on their anxiety. It was a lot of (younger) dogs that had really high separation anxiety. Luckily, that whole batch has settled in,鈥� Iannone said.

Iannone said a dog that suffers from separation anxiety can get 鈥渞eally panicky鈥� when their owner leaves them.

鈥淚t can be something that makes sense, like you leave the house and you鈥檙e gone. But it can also be things that don鈥檛 make sense, like you leave the room, or they can鈥檛 see you but you鈥檙e still in the room.鈥�

鈥淟uckily, I think it鈥檚 on the downturn now.鈥�