After seeing the third FB photo of a dog’s adoption, I became conflicted. I was happy the dog found a family—and hopefully a forever home—and I was happy the human found a friend—hopefully forever friend. Then I started thinking about what will happen when life opens up and pushes forward. My own pets are super spoiled right now because they are in my face all they long and get all the rubs they want. My husband keeps warning me that they will get sad when I go back to work because the rubs will become intermittent instead of constant, but for now, I pet them, and scratch behind their ears.

I hope new adoptive pet parents, maintain their commitment to their pets even when they have to go back into work. I hope they realize that this is a forever relationship not transactional that ends once the pandemic is over. I hope the pets don’t get hurt because they don’t know any better all they know is to love their human, and love them unconditionally.