'Such short little lives our pets have with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home every day,' wrote John Grogan in ‘Marley and Me: Life and love with the world's worst dog'.

This here, is a thread I hope you find the time to read.

I know it seems slightly selfish, but if I am allowed to call it a silver lining, this lockdown has given me the time to spend with these two girls and God knows they deserve it.

I've lost count of the number of times people have asked me what they do at home when I'm away.

I'll tell you what they do. There’s an unending list of things these little mischief managers, as I like to call them, have destroyed together. In addition to my TV and FireStick remotes, they’ve also destroyed the jambs of every door in the house, two pairs of football shoes...

...three separate washing machine outlet tubes and a journal with some of the stuff I’d written when I was back in college. And that’s just me getting started. Since we're at it, they also annihilated my bean bag. I'm not a minimalist in any way, but at this rate I soon will be.

But, hey. I signed up for this! And there’s no other way I’d rather have it. I could have probably bought a PlayStation with the money I’ve spent on these dogs, but then would a PlayStation be waiting for me at the door with a wagging tail when I get home? I doubt it.

The reason I’m writing all of this right now is because RIGHT NOW is the best time for YOU to adopt a pet. Why? I'll tell you, and I'll also tell you why you should adopt.

(Meanwhile this is a picture of Paris when she was 30 days old and today. Some things never change.)

Your entire family’s home, your children are at home, you’re getting work done in whatever profession you’re in, but at home. There’s no better time for you to get attached to a furry little friend and there's no better time for that friend to grow up at home, than RIGHT NOW.

Don't think you’re ready for a pet? I get that. I do. Trust me, I didn’t think I was either. I lived on the 3rd floor of an apartment when I brought home a dog that couldn’t walk. At first, I thought it would be rehab and release. But it wasn’t. I got attached, and so will you.

Why adopt? Simple. Every time I look at my girls, I wonder what would have been for them if they weren't mine. When Penny came to me, she couldn't stand on her hinds. The docs said that without treatment she never may. Today she runs. But you don't need to go through all that.

There are homeless dogs, hurt or not, who need you. Take my word for it, you'll find you needed them too. There’s little puppers out there, gleaming eyes, looking through cages, waiting for someone to pick them up and take them home. You could be that someone; their hero.

I haven’t felt more proud about anything else than the moment Penny climbed up the stairs for the first time. It took three weeks of trying, for her to finally be able to. And it was the most whole I’ve felt as a person in my entire life, and I mean it when I say that.

When you’re done thinking if you’re still not convinced, just remember this. ‘A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he'll give you his’. Grogan wrote that too.

And there aren’t many people you can say that about.