Australians are rushing to local pet shelters to adopt or foster animals to help ease their isolation during the global Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

Leading the way as a first pet of choice Down Under are greyhounds, with Greyhound Rescue President Natalie Panzarino saying her shelter has recorded double the number of adoptions, up to about eight a week, and triple the number of applications for foster.

And despite being the fastest canine in the world, she said greyhounds are the ideal companion animal for people living in apartments because of the emotional support they offer.

“We refer to them lovingly as the 70km per hour couch potato. They can run really fast but they prefer to spend most of their time on the couch,” Panzarino local outlet SBS News reported.

“Greyhounds are notoriously good company, quiet and calm, good for spending long periods of time indoors.”

While it could take just one week to be sharing the sofa with a greyhound, Panzarino has some advice.

“When this [coronavirus pandemic] all blows over we want to make sure these people can commit as well,” she said.

The rise in pet adoptions from shelters is happening Australia-wide and has also been mimicked in America.

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With stay-at-home orders remain in effect for cities across the country, people are looking to ease their social isolation by taking in a cat or dog that needs a forever home.

“We’ve had people that are home, and they have a lot of time on their hands,” Alex Munoz of Miami-Dade Animal Services told 7News Miami, “but you can take that chance now and that opportunity now to spend some time with a pet.”

Even though shelters are not operating as they normally would because of the coronavirus pandemic, that’s not keeping potential pet parents from reaching out.

“The response from the community has been amazing,” said Munoz.

Miami-Dade Animal Services’ Adoption Center has a reduced staff but they’re still seeing steady business, with both cat and dog adoptions, and more pet foster applications than they’ve seen in a long time.

“Our fosters have doubled, have well over doubled. There were a couple weeks that we did 90 fosters, 60 fosters. Usually we do 10, 20 around there,” said Munoz.

“We’ve had people that are home, and they have a lot of time on their hands,” said Alex Munoz with Miami-Dade Animal Services, “but you can take that chance now and that opportunity now to spend some time with a pet.”