Caracterização do abandono de animais domésticos no município de Belém durante a pandemia da COVID-19: resultados preliminares

Abstract

The abandonment of animals is a practice that has always existed in Brazil and in any part of the world, and through the pandemic of the coronavirus, an increase in animals abandoned on the streets and NGOs was noticed. Therefore, the present work analyzed the consequences of covid-19 in the abandonment of companion animals in the municipality of Belém. In view of this, an interview was carried out with the application of questionnaires in 5 (five) animal protection NGOs that operate in the region. There were 18 multiple-choice questions that addressed location, time of operation, places of abandonment, destinations of rescued animals, reasons for abandonment, difficulty during the pandemic, increase in abandoned animals, complaints and well-being, containing space for the description of possible topics. if the need arose. The questionnaire was made available through the Google Forms platform and sent to participants through their social media and email. As a result, it was observed that during the covid-19 pandemic there was an increase in the number of abandoned animals, and that NGOs and shelters are extremely important to reduce this rate, through rescues and population control. They are reported by them that there are several places where the animals are found, in which those responsible try to justify that due to the financial crisis, moving to a residence, health problems, they cannot keep the pet. It is known that the main way to reduce this problem is through education and awareness of the population, in addition to the action of the Public Power, increasing inspections and punishing those who practice this act more rigorously.