TYLER, Texas — Dogs are called a man’s best friend. During this pandemic, even more so.
"People are adopting more pets right now. They’re clinging to their animals in this time and they’re working from home,” Dr. Laura Cauthen, owner of Animal Medical Center of Tyler, said.
This situation has become a double-edged sword because while adoption facilities empty their cages, so do the animal clinics that normally depend on onboarding animals for revenue.
Gary Spence, of Spence and White Veterinary Hospital, says “people just aren’t going anywhere. Right now, we probably have about 20% and even for Thanksgiving, I don’t think there are but two or three people opting to do something for Thanksgiving.”
This lack of pet traffic coming in during the holidays would normally hit the clinic pretty hard, but the pandemic has sent sales for other services like diagnostics or vaccines through the roof. These seem to compensate for the lack of boarding.
Despite the decline in boarding, veterinarians are overwhelmed right now.
To help take a load off of the professionals, Dr. Spence says to try and shop for your pet's medication and food locally. Have patience with yourself and with your vets.
"Patience across the board right now during this COVID thing is a big deal,” Dr. Spence said.