Asking the right question: Pet overpopulation or Poverty
One of the most common questions I’ve been asked for almost twenty years now is: If a person can’t take care of themselves and their family, why should they have a pet?
When I began working with homeless dog owners living on Skid Row back in 1996, this wasn’t a question I ever considered because it wasn’t any of my business. I have always believed, and still do believe, that everyone deserves support. Meeting someone where they are in life today, in whatever situation they’re in, along with their pet, and offering them options, resources, and solutions is vital in order to truly make lasting change for animals.
It’s highly likely that if you’re reading this blog, you care deeply about animals. We’re so glad that you do. But what about their people? Because many of these people are extremely poor; it can feel to them as if they’ll never get out from under it. Some live on the street, or in their cars, or they rely on motel vouchers to get by. And these same people often sneak their pets into those motels when no one is looking, or hide them on the bus, or make the street-life or car-living work for as long as possible until they are forced to give up their pet. Yes, forced. Because the truth is, some of the families we serve make an income of less than $1,000 a month. Sometimes it’s far less than that. Whether low income or no income, the working poor, or under employed, however it’s defined, this population has one thing in common when it comes to their animals: if a single minor emergency happens, there is little if anything that the pet owner can do.
For example, this little dog (pictured left) was almost surrendered to the South LA Shelter for having seizures. The family paid for an exam and were told by the veterinarian that his condition could be very expensive, including daily medicine and more testing. Despite not wanting to surrender “their baby,” the family felt they had no choice. They could not afford the treatments and procedures. That’s where our shelter intervention program stepped in and offered financial assistance in order to help keep one more little brown Chihuahua from coming into the shelter. Because this dog had a home and a loving family who wanted him. Should they be deemed unworthy of having a pet simply because they couldn’t afford his extreme health condition? We don’t think that’s fair. We believe in opening our hearts to animals, and the people who love them.
Furthermore, we know that the only thing constant is change. The family mentioned above who is living in poverty with their dog may work their way up and out of their current financial situation. They may be able to one day support themselves without assistance, and it could happen in a matter of months or a couple years. We hope it does. But the life expectancy of a Chihuahua is 15-18 years. Therefore, in theory, any dog in any family […]
charge by the week, allowing pets. When Roscoe was diagnosed with parvo, despite being close to two years old, his family barely had enough money to pay their weekly motel fees. Taking him to a vet was not a possibility. With no money and no transportation DDR was the only place for his family to turn to. Another one of our special families, who also lives in the motel, gave Roscoe’s family a ride to the vet where Roscoe was treated.
Thanks to a generous grant from the ASPCA, we will be able to perform 500 free surgeries in a community that lacks the resources. There were 20 male dogs and 18 female dogs and 4 female cats. Yes, we had cats at our dog clinic. Including two young cats wearing collars and leashes. The young woman who owned these cats walked to the clinic because she did not have transportation and was desperate to get her cats spayed.
Lots of large breed dogs including several pit bulls, four from one family, Rottweilers and German Shepherds to name a few of the types of dogs that we helped. Of course, lots of poodles and chihuahuas and terriers too. As a special treat, every family went home with a Bark Box, thanks to a generous donation from our friends at Bark Box.
Our girl dogs still adored him. What a wonderful life he had, those short months with Barnaby and his pack, who towards then end, finally accepted him. There was never enough time with Red, he left us too soon. This past Sunday Barnaby brought Red to the kennel one final time for me and Debbie to say goodbye.
The phrase looking for a forever home usually refers to a homeless pet but in this case, it’s a homeless family. Tippy, a 10 year old Lab mix has a family who loves him so much, they decided to live in their car instead of surrendering him to the East Valley Shelter. We met Nicole, her daughter and Tippy when they came to the shelter for resources. Two weeks ago, we asked for help raising funds to get this family of three out of their car and into the Motel 6 where they are still living in Sylmar. We raised enough money to sponsor their stay until April 15th.