When it comes to what makes Oregonians happy, especially during the pandemic, their pets and their hilarious antics come up again and again, according to a new statewide survey.
Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, 1 in 3 Oregonians adopted a pet, a survey on pet ownership conducted by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center found. In the past two years, the survey showed, many Oregon households, especially women and families or households with children, welcomed a new pet into the family. Nearly half, or 47%, of people with school-aged children adopted pets during that time compared to 31% of other households.
Women were found to be more likely to adopt pets during the pandemic than men.
Oregonians with household incomes of $100,000 or more were more likely to have a friend or family member that adopted a pet during the pandemic-related shutdown than people with lower incomes, the survey showed.
The survey included people of all ages, with nearly half of people under 30 adopting pets, and over half of people 65-74 choosing to adopt dogs.
“Pets bring joy,” said Donna Casey of Deschutes County. “I would love to see more dogs brought into retirement communities. How could that happen? And how can we reduce pets for sale and encourage adoption?”
The survey found, unsurprisingly to anyone who has a beloved pet, that people whose family or friends adopted a pet overwhelmingly, or 85% of survey participants, said the pet seemed to make them happier.
One in six new pet owners, or 18%, said stress related to COVID-19 influenced their decision to bring a new pet into their lives. One in four residents with children at home, or 25% of participants, said the stress from the pandemic factored into their decision to adopt a pet, compared to 15% of people without kids at home, the survey showed.
Rural residents were more likely than urban ones to adopt a pet in the past two years, the survey showed. It was mostly urban residents who said pandemic stress factored into their decision, with more than a quarter of urban residents saying COVID-19 stress absolutely or somewhat influenced their decision. For rural residents, only 5% said that.
The survey pointed out that this disparity could be because there are more young people concentrated in urban areas compared to rural areas, and it was mostly young people who were influenced by pandemic stress to buy pets.
About a quarter of people under age 45 said stress was a factor in their decision to adopt an animal compared to 4% to 16% of people in other age groups, the survey showed.
More dogs were adopted than cats, but not by a very large margin, while about one in 10 Oregonians adopted different types of animals.
“Any pet species now appears to have exceeded humans in every positive quality,” Rob Brazeau of Deschutes County said.
The overwhelming consensus, among 93% of Oregonians who participated in the survey, is that pets make people laugh. People also largely felt pets help people feel less lonely or reduce stress, something that appears to be especially true for women compared to men.
“Two elderly cats, who I serve their every whim, are my household companions,” Robin Johnson of Deschutes County said.
Another not surprising finding in the survey was that nearly all Oregonians consider their pets part of their families, with 71% of people allowing their pets to sleep with them in their beds.
The statewide survey included 1,446 Oregon residents 18 years or older, and took each participant about 15 minutes to complete. To ensure diversity in the survey results, the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center set demographic quotas and recorded data based on the area of the state participants were from, their genders, ages, and education levels. Participants form a wide variety of backgrounds were included.
Read more on The Bend Bulletin.
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