Reflections from this pandemic

Friends of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control/ City of Palm Beach

Staying home with my dogs has not been hard for me to do. I love my dogs. For many people, their pets are their calm in an otherwise stormy period of time.
I realize that when I go back to work in a building away from my home, my dogs are going to wonder what the heck is going on. Considering both suffer or have suffered in the past from separation anxiety, I make sure I leave them, even if it is to drive around for an hour or so before coming back home. Hopefully, this will make going back to a more normal schedule, seem normal.
Before this pandemic, one of the most common excuses for relinquishing a dog or cat to a shelter was time. We don't have enough time for our beloved pet and expect someone else will have more time to give. We know they will find a good home where they won't be alone. We know they will not die, because they are such a good boy/girl.  The truth is that many did die. The truth is that most people do not have the luxury of not working. The truth is your pet will adjust to your schedule.
My dogs have done a ton of sleeping since I have been home. With the exception of Tega, who believed she had to follow me everywhere the first few hours of the morning, they both sleep a lot during the day. I would believe that this is their normal schedule when I am not home.
In a great marketing campaign, shelters began touting fostering during the pandemic to get animals out of the shelters and in to a home while humans were being isolated. This would solve the issue of loneliness for people, give families something to care for while they were not working, and animals would have a chance to be away being locked in a kennel 23 hours a day. Several shelters in Florida actually had no animals at one point. None.
The hope in this program is that these families will fall in love with their fostered dog or cat and decide to adopt. What a great idea.
The only issue I see if what happens when everyone goes back to work? Have you ever seen a dog returned after living in a home for several months? Have you ever seen the sadness on their faces when the human they have bonded with returns them to the shelter of their nightmares?
I have. I own two of those dogs. I watched as each was returned (at different times) after being in a home for 1 year (Tega) or 3 years (Elsa). The sadness and confusion in their faces is indescribably sad. They were also returned to a shelter and people they knew and loved. They were still sad.
Luckily, I could bring Elsa home immediately when she was returned. Tega had to wait almost a year.
Let's not kid ourselves. Sometimes the things we do for ourselves, really don't benefit who we say they will. I hope none of these adopted animals during this time are returned. I hope all those fostered pets wind up getting adopted. I hope these empty kennels stay empty. What I fear is the time excuse, rearing its' ugly head again. I hope I am wrong.