On March 13, 2020, Gov. Gretchen Whitmore closed schools due to Covid-19. The stay-at-home order began on March 23 and extended to June 12. Being stuck at home for three months caused loneliness and boredom, and inspired many families to get a pet to add newness to their monotonous days.

At the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society, pets such as cats and dogs need to be vaccinated before they can be adopted. Over quarantine, Gov. Whitmore wasn’t allowing adoption clinics to vaccinate pets therefore adoption rates were extremely low from the end of March to the beginning of June.

“We as an organization were not comfortable with sending animals to homes without being sterilized, so we did not see an increase in pet adoptions from March to June.” Corinne Martin, founder and director of Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption said.

The number of pet adoptions has increased since GPAAS was able to start vaccinating animals again in June, and the staff is following safety guidelines in their clinic in order to stay open and keep those numbers increasing.

“Before Covid people were able to walk into the clinic, but now we require appointments in order to come in so it’s not as crowded,” Martin said. “Business has been steady but we have a solid amount of animals going out to families right now which is more than we were doing over quarantine.”

Jennifer Carver, mother of three, was able to adopt a new Golden Retriever named Jade. It was the perfect opportunity for the Carvers to get a dog, so Jade was rehomed to the family in August.

“We thought it was a great time to get Jade since we were at home more than usual due to Corona and had all the time in the world to take care of a dog,” Carver said.

Dalizha Young ‘23 and her family welcomed two new gerbils, Jazz and Roxanne, to their family in April. Gerbils don’t require vaccines which were why the Young family was able to take them home during April.

“My three younger siblings were driving my mom crazy because we were all trapped at home for a month already, so my mom thought gerbils would be a good responsibility for us to take on,” Young said.

Many families previously didn’t have enough time in their busy schedules for pets, but thanks to Corona, they were given an abundance of time enabling them to do things that they couldn’t normally do.

“Without Corona, none of this would be possible and we wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to provide Jade with a safe home and a family who loves her,” Carver said.