If you’ve noticed a lot more people walking their dogs lately, you’re not imagining things. Pets have soared in popularity recently, with animal shelters getting cleaned out of strays, puppies from litters booked out for years, and even more exotic pets becoming normalized.

Pets are more popular than ever this year, and part of the reason is that we’re spending more time at home. Quarantine, working from home, and even spells of illness have made homes feel empty—especially if you lived alone to begin with.

 Study after study has shown that pets are good for both our physical and emotional well being. They can help reduce stress and anxiety, and also help to make you feel less lonely. These are all big reasons people are adopting pets, even if they weren’t much of a pet person to begin with.

Pets are here to stay

While the new pet boom started with the pandemic, Spencer Williams, CEO of popular pet company West Paws, says popularity in pets is likely here to stay. 

“This trend of more pets in the home, spending more time with pets, taking better care of them is going to continue for a long time,” he said in an interview with CNN Business. “I think the pet space in particular is going to see years of significant growth that started around the [pandemic.]”

It’s normal for people to nest at home during tough times, and 2020 has been some of the toughest we’ve seen in recent years. People who have never owned pets before are seeing the need for a furry, feathered, or scaly friend, and are learning the joys of pet ownership for the first time.

Pets are amazing creatures, and it’s great that so many people are finding the joy in pet ownership for the very first time.