Co Authored by Rens van Dobbenburgh and Nancy De Briyne and originally published by VetRecord | BMJ Journals in August 2020
Rens van Dobbenburgh is chief veterinary officer at Covetrus and the president of the Federation of Veterinarians in Europe (FVE)
COVID-19 has likely led to a huge psychological impact on people. Indeed, mental health institutions are already raising alarm bells about the levels of anxiety people are experiencing about the virus.
But it’s not just people that this crisis is affecting. Covid-19 has, or will have, an impact on the health and welfare of almost all animals.
With regards to companion animals, unfortunately some pet owners have feared contracting Covid-19 from their pets and this has led to a rise in pet abandonments in some European countries. In the UK, however, pet adoptions have actually gone up, most likely due to the fact that many people are now working from home or have been furloughed and so have more time to look after a pet. Indeed, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home revealed that during the first week of lockdown, the number of dog and cat adoptions were 86 and 69, respectively, an increase from 42 dogs and 29 cats in the same period last year.
However, this ‘new normal’ is temporary and when people return to their normal working routines there is a high likelihood of separation anxiety. To avoid this potential challenge, we recommend that owners start to prepare their pets for this eventuality; for example, by teaching them to stay on command, gradually increasing the time that they are left alone.
A second problem that has resulted from the lockdown is the postponement of non-urgent veterinary work, as only cases that were deemed most urgent were able to be dealt with. However, given the length of this crisis, we will likely see serious health and welfare problems in the long-term due to these delays.
But perhaps the most worrying impact will result from the forecasted economic recession, as owners will have fewer funds to spend on healthcare for their pets. This is particularly worrying with regards to horses, as we know that they have steep maintenance costs; in fact, researchers found that the previous economic recession in 2008/09 led to an increase in horse euthanasia and abandonment.
Read the full article here: https://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/19/vr.m3265