Phoenix Animal Rescue in Chester Springs is among the many shelters that are currently overwhelmed by pets that families bought or adopted during the pandemic and are now giving up en masse, writes Rita Giordano for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

“It’s hard right now,” said Marta Gambone of Phoenix Animal Rescue. 

Pet rescues and shelters take in pets from people who are giving them up due to hardship, but what Gambone is seeing now is a different story. 

For example, Nate, a one-year-old German Shepherd, was recently turned over by his former family. 

“He is smart as a whip, he’s a great dog, but they surrendered him because they don’t have time for him,” said Gambone. “He’s absolutely a COVID dog that somebody bought, and now that the people are going to work, they don’t want to deal with him anymore.”

A lot of “COVID dogs” are large breeds, which is creating an additional challenge for animal shelters and rescues when it comes to finding people to foster or adopt them. 

“People get a puppy because it’s cute, but that puppy grows into a 100-pound Mastiff or Boerboel,” said Gambone. 

Read more about Phoenix Animal Rescue in The Philadelphia Inquirer.