The effects of the Spanish COVID-19 lockdown on people, their pets, and the human-animal bond

Jonathan Bowen; Elena García; Patricia Darder; Juan Argüelles; Jaume Fatjó

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2020.05.013

The effects of the Spanish COVID-19 lockdown on people, their pets, and the human-animal bond

J Vet Behav. 2020 Nov-Dec:40:75-91. doi: 10.1016/j.jveb.2020.05.013. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

Authors

Jonathan Bowen^{1

2}, Elena García¹, Patricia Darder¹, Juan Argüelles³, Jaume Fatjó^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Chair Affinity Foundation Animals and Health, Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain.
² Queen Mother Hospital for Small Animals, Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, UK.
³ Cardenal Herrera-CEU University, Alfara del Patriarca, Valencia, Spain.
⁴ IMIM-Mar Health Park, Neuropsychiatry and Drug Addiction Institute (INAD), Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Spanish confinement for the control of the COVID-19 pandemic on the behavior of pet cats and dogs, and the support that pets provided to their owners. We found that the quality of life of owners was strongly influenced by the lifestyle and emotional effects of the confinement, and that pets provided them with substantial support to mitigate those effects. However, pets showed signs of behavioral change that were consistent with stress, with dogs that had pre-existing behavioral problems being the most affected.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; behavior; cats; confinement; dogs; human-animal bond; welfare.