11 Comments:

• thats a very good idea we look after the homeless people but what about thrie pets pets need food and a place to stay the shelters take in people not their pets (eg) the wemon shelter take in wemon and their kids but won't talke in pets i was in a satuation in albtra were3 i need a place to stay they told me to GIVE UP YOUR DOG then you can coime in so i told them no thank you my dog needs a place thats warm too

  By  Anonymous, at 7:29 PM, December 01, 2006  

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• All those interested in helping pets of the homeless should take an extra can or bag of pet food to your local vet and ask him/her to enroll in the program "Feeding Pets of the Homeless".
  (Please note that the photo on this post was taken by Tim Hulsizez.)

  By  Genevieve Frederick, at 9:21 AM, December 03, 2006  

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• Wow, I am really torn on this subject.
  
  Thought one: If you cannot afford food or shelter, check your priorities and get rid of the animal. $$ would be better spent confiscating the animal.
  
  Thought two: Being homeless (or musing what got you there) must be seriously depressing. Good thing he has fido to keep him company, otherwise he probably commit suicide.
  
  Thought three: Poor animal. His master can't even feed himself. What a great program...
  
  I still cannot decide if this program is a solution, or an enabler....

  By  Stop dogs barking, at 12:58 PM, December 04, 2006  

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• To "Stop Dogs Barking"...
  
  I could agree with your sentiment if this was government giving taxpayer dollars to homeless people.
  
  But instead it's a private charity, and if we had more of them, and more people donating to them, our governments would require A LOT less taxes.

  By  Steve, at 1:34 PM, December 04, 2006  

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• I think this is a wonderful idea. Having once been homeless myself and having lived in poverty for the most part of my youth I can attest to the fact that often a pet is the only reason to wake up in the morning, a warm furry body the only comfort life affords. To demand that human beings in need give these companions up to recieve help is like refusing to give a hungry man food unless he washes his hands. It's just plain cruel. I will be donating to this program and I will be contacting the local homeless shelter and talking to them about ways to help people with pets.

  By  Anonymous, at 2:31 PM, December 04, 2006  

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• I would like to get into a program like this...The comment made earlier about give up your pet to me is cruel. I see homeless people with pets in my town/city and live on the streets. Just because it is an animal to others it is sanity to others. I dont have children but I do have a dog that I consider my child. I wish that programs like this are more public and people will help more

  By  Anonymous, at 7:40 PM, December 19, 2006  

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• I am currently living in a battered women's shelter and cannot have my pet with me. He is being housed at a local Humane society and is being treated poorly. He's never played with..they don't walk him or let him outside.. They told me if I wanted him to use the bathroom outside I had to come and take him out myself. This is torturing me. This is not just my animal. He is my best friend and reason for getting up in the morning. I cry myself to sleep daily because he's not with me. My time at the shelter is almost up and I will again be homeless. There are shelters for me but I am told that my dog is not allowed and that I will have to give him up for adoption. My dog is the only reason I get up in the morning and live everyday..he's my every breath..I will die before anybody else gets him..if I die on the streets..he will die with me..at least I will have died with my best friend. That may sound cruel but when you have a pet that you love...he's like a child..you don't just "throw him away" when things get tough. He misses me like crazy but when I go see him daily, he kisses me and acts like I have never been gone. He doesn't expect me to be perfect. He would never "give up on me"..I will die before I live life without him. People that think "they are just dogs"..need to re focus their thinking.

  By  Anonymous, at 3:02 PM, October 27, 2007  

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• Recently I started working for a Banfield pet hospital and I like the idea behind "food for homeless pets." After being in animal medicine for almost five years, there is one thing that is always obvious: pets need love, there are a lot of them, and if they can give us love we can at least offer them food, shelter, and good company. Many animals go without food each year, and there is nothing more disturbing than a mal-nutritioned pet.
  We (the people of America) have bred these pets to be our companions, domestic and loyal. However, we have done them a terrible injustice, due to a lack of control (on our part) in the pet population; thousands of pets roam the streets without food, shelter, or a loving home. While others are euthanized at kill shelters.
  A home is a home indoors or out, and in the years I have been a Pet Nurse I have never seen a case of animal neglect from a homeless person. The person with all the money is usually the person who will neglect or abuse their pet; I guess it is just easier to forget what is important when priorities are invested in material things. Remember that homeless people are still people (just like you and I), and most of them didn't start off being homeless, they grew up in a place they considered home, where dogs and cats were an integral part of their family. Ask yourself these questions: What would I do if I had lost my entire family, everything I owned including my job, and the only thing I had left was my dog?
  The beginning of the question would probably be reiterated several times in a present/futuristic tone, “What will I do, what am I going to do?” maybe looking at your pet you would ask, “What are we going to do?” or “How are we going to eat?”
  Often we are too quick to pass judgment when all we really need to do is understand, I once read a quote from Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” it was about understanding, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Although it isn’t possible to walk in someone’s skin, it is possible to learn from our past, this quote represents the demystification of stereotypes, it is easy to say a “homeless person” or a “bum” shouldn’t own a dog, but in making such statements we are all hypocrites. We have all fallen, some just farther than others.
  If you found yourself in soiled clothes, on a street corner, with a hungry pet, it would be wonderful to know that someone could help. Going to an animal hospital can get you food for your pet, without worrying about being told “I’m sorry but we have to take your best friend away.” That is why the “Banfield food for Homeless Pets” is a great idea. The only thing I am concerned with is how the food is distributed, and how people on the streets gain knowledge of this program. The bottom line is that there are too many hungry pets, and it is great that people are in the spirit to give, even if they don’t have much to provide.
  
  - Virginia Alstott, Pet Nurse and College of Education student at UNLV

  By  Virginia, at 12:47 PM, November 12, 2007  

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• This year there is another program for pets, it is a part of meals on wheels, and it is sponsored by Banfield and MOWAA. Season of Suppers: a pet food drive for pets in need, will have boxes and bins located in petsmart stores and Banfield pet hospitals, all you have to do is purchase a bag or can of food and put it in the donation box. this food drive is not for the homeless, but for seniors who have to choose between feeding themselves or their pets.

  By  Virginia, at 12:58 PM, November 12, 2007  

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• i am not homeless but I do have a dog who is my ears and my best friend -- I know if I were on the streets with him, and it came to whether I ate or he did -- he would! So that program is a life saver in more than one way!

  By  Sandy Perez, at 5:01 PM, April 14, 2008  

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• I believe that animals give us something that no human really can. We take care of them and they love us back unconditionally, they never judge us or get mad at us for something we do or say. They love us with no boundaries. It is not a surprise when I see apparently homeless people with a dog. They have lost everything and are living our worst nightmare and we want them to give up their best friend during their greatest time of need.
  
  I am going to look into ways to help these people and also seniors. My goal is always to save the lives of pets. A homeless person or senior who might not have a lot of money, will choose to feed themselves or their pets. Some people will tell them to bring them to a shelter but most animal lovers understand what that means. They will be killed.
  
  If I can donate food that helps make the decision easier for the person, I am helping the person and saving the animal. I urge other animal lovers and compassionate people to do the same.

  By  *kristy*, at 6:35 AM, January 01, 2009  

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