Photos: Amid Moscow's COVID-19 lockdown, some dogs find new homes and friends

Moscow: Stuck at home during Moscow's coronavirus lockdown, Alexandra Novatova opted to use a delivery service - a big decision, because she was ordering more than a pizza or a shipment of toilet paper. She got a dog brought to her door. | Above: Alexandra Novatova, left, and Anastasia Medvedeva, one of the organisers of the online adoption initiative called "Happiness Delivered At Home", with pet Barly, the two year old mutt dog at Novatova's apartment building in Moscow.

She chose the mutt, a shepherd mix with a scythe-like curved tail, from a 12-hour online broadcast. Animal shelter volunteers showed dogs and cats to try to match them with humans. | Above: Alexandra Novatova pets her mutt dog.

The lockdown, which will extend at least through May 12, has been hard on dogs in some ways - their daily walks are supposed to go no farther than 100 meters from home, and owners 65 years and older are told to stay indoors except for buying groceries and medication. But it also has some bright spots. | Above: Pensioner Margarita Donchenko's dog Sopha looks at volunteer Nadezhda Minyaeva while meeting with a neighbour dog during a walk in a courtyard. Donchenko knows how much attention a dog needs and she is glad that when she can't give her fluffy little black-and-white pooch what she needs, there's volunteer Nadezhda Minyaeva to show up once a day for a walk.

People in isolation, looking for animal companionship, are adopting dogs. And many dogs are making new friends, as volunteers walk the pets of elderly people. | Above: Volunteer Nadezhda Minyaeva with pensioner Margarita Donchenko's dog Sopha leaves a porch of the apartment building for a walk.

"People are spending a lot of time at home during the pandemic. I realized that people now have more free time, they can adopt pets without taking a vacation or arranging extra days off," said Anastasia Medvedeva, one of the organizers of the online adoption initiative "Happiness Delivered At Home." | Above: Medvedeva pets Ratna, about 3 year old hunting dog, left, and Goldy about 6 year mixed toy terrier, prior to an online broadcast to show dogs and cats to try to match them with owners in Moscow.

"Because when you adopt a pet, you need a certain amount of time for it to become accustomed to its new environment. Now it's a perfect time to adopt a cat or a dog," Medvedeva said.

Medvedeva said her project tries to ensure that the animals aren't adopted just as a temporary salve to the tedium and loneliness of lockdown. | Above: Barly, a two year old mutt dog, waits inside a car, as Medvedeva makes a phone call to Alexandra Novatova, the new owner of Barly.

"We have quite experienced curators. ... They conduct rigorous interviews. We naturally ask: Do you understand what will happen next?" she said. That issue was on Novatova's mind, too. | Above: Volunteer Nadezhda Minyaeva walks with Donchenko's dog in a courtyard.

"The first thing I did was ask myself whether I'm doing this for the time of the pandemic or for life, whether I'll be able to sit at home with a dog without the ability to take walks outside and get it used to the current situation. I decided that I'm ready for this," she said outside her apartment, after the dog was delivered. | Above: Medvedeva walks to meet with Alexandra Novatova.

Pensioner Margarita Donchenko knows how much attention a dog needs. And she's glad when volunteer Nadezhda Minyaeva shows up once a day to give her fluffy little black-and-white pooch a walk. | Above: Donchenko, left, prepares to give her dog Sopha to volunteer Nadezhda Minyaeva for a walk in a courtyard.

"I saw right away that the dog is crazy about her. As soon as she wakes up, she runs to the door and waits for the doorbell to ring. She waits by her leash for Nadya to come," Donchenko said. "I tell her that Nadya will come soon and she replies with a woof-woof."