CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Although the coronavirus pandemic created challenges for several businesses and organizations, local animal shelters found it to be a busy year for adoptions.
"Every single day I get to see all of these families leave here with new friends and family members," said Jackie McCollough with the Gulf Coast Humane Society.
McCollough said even though changes were made during the pandemic, they saw one of their best years for pet adoptions.
"We did have to close our doors for a while and we went to all virtual adoptions," said McCollough. "Our adoptions went up by at least a few 100 between 2019 and 2020."
It was an increase that those at The Cattery animal shelter also saw.
"We had 812 adoptions over the whole year, which is more than we had last year when we were open," said Katie Hatfield. "We used to be on a walk-in basis, we had to switch to appointments only. We started doing curbside adoptions at some point. We delivered cats at one point during the during the pandemic. It was crazy."
The demand for local shelters proved to be much greater than anticipated by both Hatfield and McCollough, but it didn't surprise mental health counselor Jinnelle V. Powell too much.
"It reduces stress and decreases high blood pressure; it increases the feel-good chemicals in our brain like serotonin in the brain," said Powell. "When we're petting an animal, all those feel-good chemicals in the brain kind of get activated."
A feeling of comfort and happiness -- Sarah Nelson said she experiences this every day with her newly adopted kittens, Marla and Willow.
"It was just one of those things where we had a lot of extra time; we were just looking for some fulfillment and to add a new family member," said Nelson.
Nelson works as a teacher and said the initial virtual learning for the school year presented its challenges. However, thanks to the introduction to her new furry friends, she didn't go through it alone.
"Cats and any pet it's just, it's a great stress reliever. It takes a focus off of everything else that's going on around you. It's just really nice to come home at the end of the day and your pets are excited to see you," said Nelson.
More information for the Gulf Coast Humane Society can be found here.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
More from 3News on KIIITV.com: