Pets

Animal adoptions increase in Belgium during lockdown

Brussels (Belgium), 7 June, EFE, (Camera: Leo Rodríguez).- Animal adoptions increased considerably in Belgium during the confinement caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but shelters are warning that, with the relaxation of isolation measures and the permissiveness of travel during the summer holidays, there may be an upsurge in the number of abandonments.FOOTAGE OF THE CROIX BLEU SHELTER IN BRUSSELS AND SOUNDBITES OF STEAVE BOVÉ, WORKERTRANSLATIONS:"Yes, for example in April we had 37 cats and now we only have 11 left. There have been more than 20 cat adoptions that have been made in a short time". "Usually they are more like 10. In terms of entries we have also had many less, there have been many more exits". "We suppose that it is because people have had more time to take care of animals and that is why the abandonments have been reduced. We believe that there have been many adoptions due to confinement and the fact that people have more time"."It can be, it's true. There have been many people who have been alone and to counteract this they have adopted an animal to take care of it but we have also had many families. Maybe the children were bored at home and an animal allowed them to entertain themselves. And often we have also been told that they finally have time now to adopt an animal and to come here."Yes, we fear that there will be a wave of animals coming back but we have always been careful to see if in a normal situation people had time to take care of the animals"."Compared to the beginning of the year I would say that they have doubled, so 200% more adoptions".