Kinds of pet chosen and manner of pet acquisition during COVID 19 in Serbia

Abstract

In mid-March 2020, a state of emergency was declared in Serbia in order to prevent the spread of COVID 19. Many activities of Serbian citizens were limited or completely stopped. Citizens had to spend most of their time confined in their homes. However, some still wanted and managed to acquire pets. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine which kinds of pets (dogs, cats and non-traditional animals) the residents of Serbia acquired during the first year of the COVID 19 pandemic and in which manner (purchase, adoption or gift). If the pets were acquired by adoption, the participants were asked from what sources they adopted them. Finally, how the characteristics of the owner and their household influenced the adoption of pets was examined. A total of 566 pet owners who acquired pets in the pre-COVID 19 and COVID 19 periods participated in the research. The COVID pandemic reduced the number of pet owners 2.7-fold in 2020 compared to 2019. Dogs were the most favourite pets acquired before (43%) and during (43%) the pandemic. During the pandemic, 61% of pets were acquired by adoption and the percentage of dogs, cats and non-traditional pets adopted directly from previous owners increased by 32%, 13% and 12%, respectively. The probability of acquiring pets by adoption was significantly increased by the presence of people older than 65 in the household (OR=2.56; P=0.02), the absence of children up to 5 years of age (OR=0.17; P<0.001) in the household, lower monthly incomes (OR=0.47; P<0.001), the greater available free time of the owner (OR=2.09; P<0.001), and the period of adoption (OR=2.42; P<0.001).