new york city is running out of cats and dogs to foster

following hand sanitizer, toilet paper and bottled water, cats and dogs are the newest shortage new york city has experienced, finding itself out of pets to adopt during the coronavirus pandemic. different shelters around the city have reported that they are either completely out or almost out of cats and dogs after applications surged almost ten times more in the past couple of weeks.

(main) image by krista mangulsone 
(above) image by jay wennington taken for PuppyHero

as quarantine measures are being applied around the world, people are looking for acceptable ways to go outside and have some company when inside. ‘ordered to shelter in place at home, and both a little bored and a lot anxious, new yorkers apparently see the four-legged friends as way to calm frayed nerves,’ reports bloomberg.

image by paul hanaoka 

this could also explain why pet food companies like chewy inc. have seen their shares soar, even as the stock market is not doing so well. people are also ordering pet food like crazy, with delivery times being pushed between seven and ten days. good thing about pet food? it lasts long. new york city is not the only american city seeing the increase in pet adoptions, as los angeles has reported the same.

image by erda estremera