10 Percent of Older Adults Have Got a New Pet During the Pandemic, Poll Shows

Research by the National Poll on Healthy Aging estimated that 10 percent of all people between the ages of 50 and 80 got a new pet during the COVID pandemic between March 2020 and January 2021, reports News-Medical . Most respondents do not live with someone under age 18, and almost 9 percent of them also got a pet during the pandemic. Overall, 59 percent of people age 50 to 80 who completed the survey are pet owners, and 17 percent of those who said in January that they are pet owners had acquired at least one pet since the pandemic began. Pet ownership was more frequent among those age 50 to 64, women, and whites. The percentage of older adults living with a pet climbed 12 points between the sample reported in 2019 and the January 2021 sample. "Of particular interest during this isolating pandemic, companion animals certainly stave off the silent killer: loneliness," said Wendy Welch with the Humane Society of Huron Valley.