During the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, the ASPCA shared that animal welfare organizations across the country saw a spike in adoptions during the second half of March, with an estimated national adoption rate of 58% at the beginning of the month, jumping to 85% by the end of the month. Due to the stay-at-home orders, families were able to open their homes to new pets as they had more time to spend taking care of and training their new family member. Spots.com states that 67% of households in America have at least one pet.

The increase of pet adoptions and purchases over the last year led the Grayson County 4-H Agent to create a Cloverbud take-and-make program “Adopt a Pet.” The Cloverbud age (5-8) is a prime opportunity to teach youth the intricacies of taking care of a pet as experts recommend that children be at least 6 years old before they are given a pet or a pet is introduced to them. Young children do not always understand the rules, boundaries, and responsibilities that come with certain types of pets.

For the Cloverbud Adopt a Pet program, the agent purchased animal sets that can be custom colored by the youth. Pet varieties include: dog, fish, pig, elephant, turtle, octopi, and crab. Additionally, the agent purchased Velcro collars with bells and pet tags that can be hand written on. There was no cost to the youth to participate in this program as the items were purchased with program support funds.

In each kit, the youth receive a randomly selected pet, collar and tag, an information card about that pet, and a care booklet that was adapted from the 4-H Pet Pals curriculum covering pet basics for a Cloverbud aged youth. The program was designed by the agent to teach youth how to care for their pet so they may be better prepared should their family bring one into the home. Twenty-eight families requested and received pet kits for their cloverbud  aged youths. Participants were encouraged to fill out a follow up survey.

100% of the families found this activity to be beneficial in helping youth learn about the responsibility of having a pet.

80% of the families already have a pets.

Statements made by parents regarding what surprised their youth about pet ownership included: the cost of owning and caring for a pet, they wanted to do more research on caring for their pet, and that even at night you still have to care for pets.

Favorite parts of activity included: coloring the pets, naming them and filling out the pet tags and adoption certificates, and making things for the pets like beds and toys.