When most people come across a homeless person, they don’t really look below what they see on the surface. After all, it is a lot easier to ignore what you’re seeing rather than to acknowledge it. Although it may be difficult to think about our own feelings in this regard, it is a reality of life that many of us face.
Although homeless people are often overlooked by society in general, it tends to change when they are keeping company with an animal. Suddenly, they are not only getting second glances, people are looking at them empathetically because it is not only the person that is suffering, it is the animal that may be suffering as well. Yet some people wonder how such an individual could care for an animal if they can’t take care of themselves.
(Image Source: Franco Folini/Flickr)
Although typically, we would look the other way, that cycle is usually broken when we see an animal enter into the scene. Admittedly, society in general does not permit animals to have the same privileges as humans but seeing such a situation often causes us to wonder if there truly able to care for the animal properly.
One organization that is attempting to help homeless individuals who have animals is Pets of the Homeless. It is a nonprofit organization that is trying to convince homeless shelters that pets should be permitted inside with their humans. It should come as no surprise that when given a choice, most homeless people would rather stay with their pet than accept the provisions at a homeless shelter, including a place to sleep and a warm meal to eat.
(image Source: jp1958/Flickr)
It is estimated that up to 600,000 individuals are living on the streets in the United States alone. As you can expect, that number goes up and down on any given day but that tends to be a good average, according to the US Department of Housing and urban development. Up to 10% of those people who are living on the street have pets and in some areas of the country, it may be up to 24%.
(image source: Adrian Miles/Flickr)
The animals that accompany people living on the street provide benefits for them, including comfort, companionship and loyalty. In addition, they offer a level of protection and can even help to keep the homeless person warm on a cold night. In some cases, it may be the only link that allows them to be spoken to on any given day.
Daniel Wolffe, author of the article “8 Reasons Homeless People Deserve to Have Dogs” states the following pertinent information.
“Finances don’t indicate who a person is, what they are capable of, how much love they deserve or where it should come from. Poverty is not a character trait. A struggling person deserves the same intimate connections as everyone else. More importantly, having money doesn’t give us the right to make those decisions for others – doesn’t give us exclusive dominion over animals or children.”
(image source: Revolution News)
The animals also may find some advantage in living with individuals who are on the street. One of those advantages may be in the possibility that they have also been removed from the street and are saved from a lifetime of abuse.
Many of the dogs that live with homeless individuals experience a level of kindness that they may never have experienced before. It may also work in both directions.
There may also be some problems in such a situation, including the amount of nutrition that is available for these animals. In addition, they may not get the regular veterinary care that is necessary and at times, even coming up with the money to make a phone call for assistance is difficult.
This leads us to a rather unusual problem. If homeless shelters are providing services for people but do not provide it for their pets and if those individuals will not leave the pets, it puts both the animal and the human in harm’s way. How can this problem be remedied?
It often starts from the core of helping the individuals and their pets and from that point, things may actually start to get better. Guenevere Frederick, founder of Pets of the Homeless has the following to say…
“For shelters that say yes, we will send that shelter free collapsible sleeping crates, so that these people can get in out of the cold, out of the heat, off the streets, for just a little bit. This keeps them in a secure place and keeps everybody safe.”
(image source: Franco Folini/Flickr)
If you are somebody that routinely looks away when you see a homeless person on the street, you are certainly not alone. In fact, it is a rather common practice. You are also not alone if you disagree with the rights of those homeless people to own an animal as well.
Even though we may have a difficulty in this regard, it is our human tendencies that also allow us to empathize with those who are suffering. We see groups, such as Pets of the Homeless, who are facing difficult issues head on and trying to make changes that would benefit, not only the homeless individual but their animals as well.