Just before Christmas, Lexi Pfister was among 31 Central Oregonian residents looking to take home one of six puppies that landed at the Humane Society of Central Oregon. Ever since the pandemic began, the shelter has seen high demand for puppies. Because of the strong interest, the humane society drew names in a raffle to place the puppies. Pfister was the seventh name on the list and got a puppy because someone else whose name was chosen wasn’t ready.

It was a happy day for her, her two children and her husband. Maisie, a Labrador-Weimaraner puppy, now has a family of humans to grow old with.

“We’ve had dogs our entire lives,” Pfister said. “In May, we had to put down our English bull terrier who was 14 years old.

“We love having a dog in the house. She brings a lot to the family.”

Pfister is among the growing group of pet owners nationwide who have adopted a dog or a cat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Central Oregon, people have adopted pets at a higher rate than normal and that is compounded by fewer strays needing a home, said Karen Burns, vice president of operations at the Humane Society of Central Oregon.

The animals that are put up for adoption are often snapped up in a short amount of time, Burns said. Like many other shelters in the region, the Humane Society of Central Oregon has restricted public access to the shelter.

Would-be pet owners first must fill out an application online, and then make an appointment for a specific animal. That animal is reserved temporarily to give the would-be pet owners time to decide.

“I really do feel that from the dogs’ point of view, 2020 has been pretty fantastic,” said Burns, who has worked at the humane society for 17 years. “Some people question what will happen when everyone has to go back to the office? I don’t want to worry about that before it happens.

“We anticipate that the demand will be around for a while. It’s been extraordinary.”

Nationwide, 1.9 million animals were brought in to shelters January through November 2020, a 19% decline over the same period in 2019, according to Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit organization that tracks sheltered animal statistics.

At the Humane Society of Central Oregon, adoptions declined 37% in 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.

The decline is partly due to fewer stray animals and that the shelter didn’t import animals from other shelters, except for some cats affected by the wildfires in Phoenix, Oregon.

Pets provide a special kind of social support, said Regan Gurung, an Oregon State University-Corvallis psychology professor. A social support can help people in times of stress and illness, she said.

“Pets are a great source of social support,” Gurung said in an email. “In times of lockdown, when it is not safe to see others, and even seeing friends and family can be difficult, having a source of support right there in the house with you can be of critical importance to your mental and physical health.”

There’s science to support that. When people tend to others during stress, it provides a release of chemicals in the body that soothe and calm, Gurung said.

Zee Gustafson is familiar with this theory. Gustafson and her husband Eric Oren had been thinking about getting another dog for the past three years. So when the couple moved to Bend nearly three months ago because they could work from home, they began their search.

The couple also received one of the six puppies from the same litter as Pfister’s dog. Pocket is now two months old and is learning how to adapt to being the baby of the pack at Gustafson’s home and getting used to their 7-year-old dog Delilah.

“Dogs are really hard to come by because everyone is adopting them now,” Gustafson said. “We’re working on training him now. We’re diligent with the training. And when it’s allowed we’ll socialize him.”

When workers go to work, doggie day care is a safe haven for both pets and their owners. But since March when the lockdowns initially occurred, dog day care centers and overnight kennels have not seen the business they normally see.

At the 10,000-square-foot Dig Dog Hotel on Ninth Street and Wilson Avenue in Bend, business is way down, said owner Robin Miller. Currently the dog day care is at 10% capacity.

“I wish more people would realize that day care is a good for a dog’s socializing with other dogs,” Miller said. “The pandemic hit us hard. People are not coming to us because they’re not going off to work.”

People are spending more time with their pets and not surrendering them, said Pat Bowling of Brightside Animal Shelter in Redmond.

“People are home. They’re watching their animals and taking better care of them,” Bowling said. “All these pets with separation anxiety have their owners at home. They’re walking their dogs more and playing with them.

“They’re getting the needed attention.”