Half of Morton East students got a pet during the pandemic, survey says.

108 Morton East students took a survey, and 55 said that they did get a pet and 53 said that they did not this past year. Recently there has been a spike in adopting animals. According to nature.com last year March 2020 to May 2020 when we were on full lockdown there was a big increase in animal adoption. People started to adopt way more animals during the quarantine. Recently helpguide.org released an article talking about the benefits of having a pet. The biggest benefit of having a pet is that it can reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and ease loneliness. This is especially needed during this time.

“I felt really lonely and sad during the pandemic, so my parents decided to buy me a cat. After I got my cat, I felt happy again. She is super clingy, and I love it because she is always there when I need her,” junior Kaylee Selph said.

People started to feel lonely and bored during the quarantine.

“My family and I decided to get a pet of how boring it was being home all day with nothing to do,” senior JonathanCelaya said.

Some students took this time to keep themselves busy by training their puppies.

“I got Tobin on March 7th, 2020 which was 1 week before we went into lockdown. If I didn’t get Tobin I probably would have gone crazy. He was a puppy so instead of sitting inside doing nothing, we were training him. I also am I very active person and so is Tobin, so he kept me in shape. I was very nervous about Covid as well and he kept my mind off of it and kept me busy,” senior Alexa Osier said.