Pets adopted during the pandemic are being returned in record numbers

Pet owners who adopted during the pandemic are reportedly beginning to ditch their animals at shelters now that COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted and workers are returning to the office.

“We’re starting to see now what we think will be a longer-term trend of some of those pandemic pets, if you want to call them that, starting to be given up,” Peter Laurie, who is chief executive of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London, told Bloomberg Quicktake. The number of dogs and cats returned to the shelter has doubled over the last few months — and it’s only expected to get worse.