Feature: Pet adoptions on rise in Turkey amid COVID-19 pandemic

ISTANBUL, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Animal adoptions have surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as more people are turning to pets as a source of companionship, some Turkish animal lovers and veterinarians said.

"We witnessed an increase in adoptions since this summer, especially when the first lockdown restrictions were lifted at the beginning of June, as people felt uncomfortable about loneliness in general," Alper Ustun, a veterinarian and owner of a small private clinic in the capital Ankara, told Xinhua.