1 Apr 2025
Ashleigh Brown, animal behaviour and welfare scientist, explains the effects lockdown life had on animals, owners and the charity’s work – at the time and in the post-pandemic world.
Ashleigh Brown
Job Title
Image: Azaliya (Elya Vatel) / Adobe Stock
It is five years since the UK nations were first plunged into unprecedented lockdown restrictions – and for many of the nation’s animals, the impacts are still being felt.
The introduction of UK and devolved government restrictions – which continued in various guises until 2022 – unwittingly helped create a perfect storm for animal welfare, applying new pressures on the RSPCA, as well as the pets, farm animals and wildlife we advocate for.
Life changed for almost everyone on 23 March 2020 when then prime minister Boris Johnson – as well as the leaders of the devolved administrations – issued stay at home orders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Socialising stopped, many people switched to working from home and, although key workers like our RSPCA rescuers carried on their essential front-line work helping animals in urgent need, the majority of us transitioned to spending most of our time inside, online and away from others.
It was unclear how long restrictions would last for – weeks, months or years – but also what the impacts would ultimately be. This was uncharted territory – including for the nation’s animals.
Many pet owners were understandably concerned. Early questions asked of the RSPCA included whether cats should be allowed outside to roam, whether pets could acquire or spread COVID-19, and even whether people were allowed to stop and feed the ducks while taking their daily, socially distanced exercise.
Once the dust had settled a little following the initial upheaval, the longer-term impacts on pets gradually became more apparent, along with the growing need for charities such as the RSPCA to assist.
As people continued to stay at home during the pandemic, loneliness and boredom sky rocketed. So, as the restrictions continued for months, many people opted to add pets to the family to cope with the monotony of this “new normal”.
Some also viewed their change of circumstances as enabling them to take on a pet for the first time, when this had not been possible previously due to work or travel commitments. Accordingly, pet ownership soared in the UK – UK Pet Food found that 3.2 million households acquired a pet in the first year of the pandemic.
While RSPCA animal centres remained inaccessible to the public, after a period of total closure, we were fortunately able to resume rehoming by delivering animals directly to their new homes in April 2020 in England and the following month in Wales.
Demand was high, and centre staff worked closely with all new owners to ensure they fully understood their individual pet’s welfare needs, the commitment and responsibilities they were taking on, and the additional challenges of pet ownership during a global pandemic. Yet, for many commercial ventures, including some backyard breeders, it was “boom” time in light of this huge and sudden demand for “lockdown pets”, with people turning to online sellers as a means of acquiring pups, kittens and other young animals. While animal centres had to remain closed, some small-scale breeders had enjoyed a “head start”, seizing the opportunity to profit from breeding dogs to meet the increased demand.
UK-based Google searches for “puppies near me” increased more than six times (650%), with 15,000 searches in July 2020 compared to 2,000 in January 2020. The figure was also five times higher than in July 2019. We fear the rapid growth of digital transactions during COVID-19 potentially helped normalise both online pet sales and impulsive pet purchasing decisions.
It is concerning that several police forces around the country also reported a rising prevalence of dog theft as family pets sadly became valuable currency. Criminals sought to benefit financially from this new market, without consideration for either the animals’ welfare or the heartbreak endured by families whose much-loved pets were stolen.
Collectively, these conditions contributed to a perfect storm for companion animal welfare. From the unprecedented pandemic, to the cost of living crisis that followed, it’s been a challenging time for the RSPCA and other charities like ours, veterinary service providers, and for many pets. After initial uncertainty on how lockdown would impact animals, it soon became apparent that the surge in new pet owners, lack of socialisation for some pets and reduced access to veterinary care were going to have long-lasting impacts. Five years on, the RSPCA is still dealing with so many of those today.
Although many pets found suitable homes and excellent caregivers during the pandemic, some new owners might have taken on animals without fully understanding the responsibilities and costs of pet ownership, or consideration of how their pets’ needs would be met once normal activities resumed, such as returning to office-based work or undertaking frequent travel again.
This risked owners being unable to meet physical and psychological welfare needs, failing to seek timely veterinary attention, relinquishing to others in the rescue sector, or even abandoning their animals.
We continue to see evidence of this accelerating even to this day. Abandonment incidents reported to the RSPCA have been steadily rising since 2020, from 16,111 that year, to 22,503 last year – an increase of almost 40%.
Sadly, as the reality of the less glamorous side of pet ownership emerges – veterinary bills, behavioural challenges or juggling pet care with a reduction in home working – some owners are no longer able or willing to care for their pet.
Across England and Wales, many of our centres are still full in 2025. Intake of new animals often outpaces rehoming, resulting in reliance on the use of costly private boarding facilities while animals await space in a RSPCA facility.
However, the welfare consequences extend beyond relinquishment, negligence or mistreatment. Pets (particularly newly acquired pups) purchased during lockdown faced unique challenges, as COVID-19 restrictions severely hampered opportunities for socialisation with humans and conspecifics – the behavioural consequences of which can be prolonged. With restrictions on gatherings, dog training classes became difficult or impossible for a long while, and limitations on travel and movement inhibited dog walking in some locations.
To try to address the issue, the RSPCA urged local authorities to temporarily ease public spaces protection orders that had banned dogs from certain outdoor spaces. The inability to visit others, or host visitors, meant many young dogs missed out on important socialisation opportunities, potentially creating behavioural challenges when they subsequently were exposed to unfamiliar people, places and stimuli once restrictions were lifted – challenges still being felt in some dog-owning families to this day.
Consequences of poor socialisation can even be fatal. In addition to increasing likelihood of attacks on unfamiliar conspecifics, tragically, in recent years a number of dog attacks on people have resulted in life-changing injuries or even death.
The UK Government’s response was to ban the XL bully – urgent action, yes, but not the response the RSPCA wanted to see, due to our long-held concerns about the efficacy and feasibility of breed-specific legislation and the need to instead address the underlying issues around responsible dog ownership. Our calls for a full review of dangerous dog regulation were only heightened by the impact of COVID-19.
Furthermore, as lockdown restrictions eased and people returned to offices, travelling, socialising and holidays, pets’ routines shifted significantly. Many had to adapt from spending the majority of the day with their owners’ company to far less social contact, fuelling separation anxiety, stress, loneliness and boredom – particularly if housed without other canine companions.
In addition to the animal welfare compromise, this social deprivation and lack of environmental enrichment can trigger reduced responsiveness and perceived obedience, or destructive behaviours, which in turn can be contributing causative factors for abandonment or mistreatment by owners seeking to “punish” emergent unwanted behaviours.
An additional concern was reduced availability and accessibility of, or financial resource for, veterinary services – particularly routine health checks, microchipping, neutering and preventive care, in addition to remedial intervention. Indeed, for some time, the veterinary profession was urged to limit services to urgent and essential treatments. Interventions such as vaccinations, non-urgent diagnostics and other non-essential consults had to be suspended or delayed. Subsequent rises in online web searches for, “can I give my dog paracetamol?” may be linked to the cost of living crisis, but could also be indicative of normalisation of people resorting to home remedies and self-directed medication of their animals rather than consulting veterinary professionals. This has continued to be a worrying trend, with 44,900 searches between April 2023 and March 2024 – an increase from 42,500 the previous year.
COVID-19 shifted the goalposts in so many ways. Five years on, we remain concerned about the cumulative impact of factors such as inexperienced pet ownership, reduced seeking of veterinary treatment, inadequate training of dogs, poor socialisation, separation anxiety and daily under-stimulation of companion animals. Too often, it is the charitable sector – organisations such as the RSPCA – in collaboration with our colleagues in the veterinary profession, who have had to assume responsibility for these animals’ welfare when owners cannot, or will not, do so.
The RSPCA has implemented call triaging in recent years, and to ensure our officers prioritise responding to cruelty and neglect incidents, we may redirect callers to alternative agencies when appropriate, thus enabling front-line workers’ time to be prioritised for complex scenarios and specialised cases that cannot be addressed by others.
But, even so, while total calls reduced to just less than 908,000 last year, compared to just under 978,000 in the previous year, abandonment incidents being called in increased by more than 7% (22,503 versus 20,995). Meanwhile, more than 21,000 animals were taken in by the national RSPCA – nearly 900 more than in 2023. We also secured 1,064 convictions for animal cruelty offences last year – more than in any year since the pandemic onset.
The cost of living crisis was arguably accelerated by the pandemic, and has also contributed to spiralling animal care costs for the RSPCA, placing added pressure on fund-raising in a challenging economic climate.
Findings from our annual Animal Kindness Index indicated that 36% of pet owners have changed their behaviour because of financial pressures in the past year; of these, one-fifth believed their animals have suffered as a result. A total of 21% of owners reported concerns about the costs of feeding their pet – a worrying scenario we have seen exacerbated since the pandemic.
In response, to help struggling pet owners, we set up a Pet Food Bank Partnership, which has since provided more than two million meals.
Poignantly, in 2024, 15% of owners reported that they regretted owning a pet altogether, and amid the turmoil of post-pandemic life; there’s also evidence that people’s priorities may be shifting away from animal welfare – especially the younger generation.
Although 68% of all people identified themselves as animal lovers, this falls to 57% for those aged 18-24. Amid myriad other life pressures, young adults were less likely to be taking action for animals, and appeared to be more tolerant of behaviours that could negatively impact animal welfare, such as dressing up animals for fashion or fun (33% versus 16% of all people), breeding animals with specific genetic problems (14% versus 7%), or using animals in entertainment shows on television (23% versus 16%).
So, as we mark five years from the announcement of the first UK COVID-19 lockdown, thankfully the stay at home orders and rules governing so much of our freedom are a distant memory. However, for the nation’s animals, the realities of this unprecedented period in history still resonate daily.
But hope is not lost. There is so much people can do, from adopting rescue pets, to sharing evidence-based animal care advice, and seeking timely veterinary intervention. At the RSPCA, although the legacy of that announcement in March 2020 remains significant for many pets, we continue to believe positive change is possible, despite the challenges facing the charity sector and the animals we exist to support and protect.
Their future depends on animal welfare organisations such as ours working in close collaboration with veterinary professionals on education, prevention and remedy – and with the continued support of the animal-loving public – towards a mission of ensuring a better world for every kind.
