Ways to Keep Your Pets Safe with Security Systems
Since COVID landed on U.S. shores in 2020, pet adoptions have been through the roof. Being locked down during the early months of the pandemic, when some people were inspired to take up a hobby or learn how to cook, many were moved to get a pet.
In fact, for a period in early- to mid-2020, shelters and rescue organizations saw unprecedented demand for pet fostering and adoptions. One Tail at a Time adoption center in Chicago reported weekly inquiries spiked tenfold and they placed nearly 200 animals in one month. The ASPCA reported a 70 percent increase in fosters in Los Angeles and New York City alone and a 400 percent increase in adoptions in those cities in the first two months of the pandemic.
As people have begun to go back to work, even in hybrid office/work-from-home arrangements, many of these new pet owners felt the same or worse separation anxiety as their new furry family members. This has made in-home monitoring systems a hot commodity for all size and manner of households.
How to monitor your pets while you’re at work
Those wanting to go this route have several options, including security systems that include video and thus double as a monitoring system. These systems are generally less expensive, while providing cameras operational in all sorts of light and two-way audio communication that allows owners to talk to their dogs, admonishing them to get off the couch or praising them for being a good, good girl.
The technical side of pet cams isn’t much more complicated than that of any other periphery device or smart home object, but pet owners do have a couple of things to consider. First, be sure to choose a system that provides optimal performance for how you will view the feed, smartphone versus desktop. Second, consider video storage capability, especially if you want to capture and share a funny pet video that happened while you were away.