New York City is Having a Shortage of Dogs Left for Adoption

In these challenging times of coronavirus pandemic, people are practicing social distancing in order to minimize the risk of spreading the disease. This proved to be tough for people of New York City, who decided to fill this void with pets.

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We are so thankful for our fosters every day, but for this #FosterFriday we want to give an extra special shoutout to Tara P.! 💕 Tara adopted her resident pup, Penny, from us a while back, and she and Penny have been welcoming new pack members into their home ever since. They've been wonderful fosters to several young pups, caring for each pup's individual needs with attentiveness and love. With that many pups, it was only a matter of time before Penny got a sibling. Tara eventually adopted a second pup with, now named Dolly Pawton. Lucky for us, we can keep up with their sibling adventures at @pennylanetherescuepup. 😍 Even with two resident pups, Tara plans to keep on fostering with us in the future. Tara goes above and beyond in her work and dedication to our pups. She's an important advocate for our rescue pups, encouraging friends, family, and Girl Scout troops to adopt and foster. She's worked with Girl Scouts to make handmade toys for all of our foster pups, AND hosted a toy drive over the holidays. 🎾 Needless to say, our pups were VERY excited about this! If that wasn't enough, she continues to organize donations of crates and winter coats because she knows we simply never have enough for our pups. Tara is now also volunteering her time as part of our Foster Team — we're confident that there's nothing this girl can't do, and we are so very thankful to have her as part of our #MuddyPawsPack!

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Bloomberg reports that citizens of New York City started adopting dogs at an increased rate in these past two weeks, causing animal shelters and rescue centers to empty out. According to organizations like Muddy Paws Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society, there are little to no dogs left for adoption or fostered care in the whole city area. The cats are proving to be difficult to come by as well.

“For the moment we definitely don’t have any dogs left to match,” said Muddy Paws’ marketing director Anna Lai told Bloomberg. “Which is a great problem to have.”

Los Angeles is facing a similar problem, as the adoption and foster care requests have seen a 70 percent increase lately.

“We’re seeing people show up in droves to foster,” said Best Friends’ Julie Castle. “We have seen the American public come together like we have never seen before.”

It’s scientifically proven that pet animals bring comfort and stress relief to humans, especially in times of crisis. This is why it doesn’t come as a surprise that people are looking for their companionship now.