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• 1 2022-11-29T09:02:55-08:00 Pets & Homelessness 15 In the United States, over 552,000 people experience homelessness on any given night, and, of those, up to 25% own a pet. With the social benefits of pet ownership, people experiencing homelessness also face increased vulnerability: losing one’s pet prematurely to death or rehoming could lead to mental health crises, and pet ownership was often viewed as a barrier to health and social services, housing access, and employment opportunities. plain 2022-12-12T12:28:45-08:00 “I’d been a heroin and crack addict for about fifteen years,” says Andy, a man living in temporary accommodations in London, England. As he speaks, he holds Bailey, a brown and white mixed breed dog, whom Andy has had since Bailey was four weeks old. “They doped him up on Valium, so he wouldn’t cry for his mum. So I’ve had him since then. I had to wean him off the drugs. I had to get off the drugs. I’ve had him since, and I haven’t touched a class A drug since.”
  
  Andy and Bailey’s relationship was documented for a spot on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Channel 4 News in December 2017 to highlight the relationships between the homeless and their pets.
  
  
  Dr. Sam Joseph, a veterinarian who volunteers with StreetVet to provide free vet care to the animals of people living on the streets, notes that unhoused people and their pets have similar bonds to housed people and their pets—but elevated: “I think we maybe see a more complex relationship between homeless people and their dogs, and I think we maybe see a more intense and profound relationship.” 
  
  Andy was candid about his own struggles with combatting mental illness while he was homeless and how Bailey, quite literally, saved his life, telling reporters, “I’ve been out there alone, and it’s a very lonely place. I’ve contemplated suicide. I’ve even gone out to the bridge and was going to throw meself in, but it just looked too cold, you know? And then I had Bailey with me […] So he just convinced me it wasn’t right. That was the lowest I’ve ever been.”<
  
  The emotionally resonant relationship between those without stable housing and their pets is not just present in the United Kingdom. In the United States, over 552,000 people experience homelessness on any given night, and, of those, up to 25% own a pet. A scoping review conducted by researchers at the University of Ottawa found that owning pets had social benefits for people experiencing homelessness, and that these benefits changed with demographic variations; for example, homeless youth more often associated pets with protection, while adults viewed pets as social companions to combat loneliness.
  
  However, with the social benefits of pet ownership, the review found that people experiencing homelessness also faced increased vulnerability: losing one’s pet prematurely to death or rehoming could lead to mental health crises, and pet ownership was often viewed as a barrier to health and social services, housing access, and employment opportunities. In fact, 18% of homeless adults and 16% of homeless youth reported refusing housing that would not accommodate their pets.The reason for these results is not explicitly clear, but, as Dr. Joseph said of Andy and Bailey, the relationship between an unhoused person and their pet can be especially close-knit. Such strong bonds, though, can also prevent owners from finding employment that would allow them to exit the homelessness cycle. The prospect of having to find reliable care for the pet during the day while interviewing for jobs or working—or else having to rehome the pet—was a key barrier in keeping some people from becoming employed, and others instead used the pet to solicit money from passersby.
  
  One of the studies examined in the aforementioned review focused on a 2015 study of homeless youth with pets in Los Angeles, California. Overall, the study found, again, that pet ownership diminished the youth’s ability to find temporary housing in shelters and made them less likely to utilize housing and job services. About 60% of youth also reported “my pet eats before I do,” signaling that pets are a priority for homeless youth. This is likely due to the social and emotional benefits indicated earlier and that this study supports: about 85% of homeless youth reported that “my pet keeps me company;” about 80% that “my pet makes me feel loved;” about 73% that “my pet helps me feel safe”; and about 71% that “my pet gives me someone to love.”
  
  While there are organizations like StreetVet in the United Kingdom and Feeding Pets of the Homeless in the United States, only one-third (33%) of homeless youth reported that it was easy to see a vet, and 10.5% reported difficulty getting pet food, pointing to a need for more programs attuned to the needs of people experiencing homelessness with pet companions.
  
  
  In thinking about the intersection of homelessness and pet ownership, it’s clear that there are positive and negative outcomes for people who own pets while experiencing homelessness. In some ways, pets provide companionship, comfort, love, and protection to a person who may be sufficiently lacking that emotional support in their lives, thus improving their mental health—and, as Andy discussed at the beginning of this essay, sometimes saving their lives. But the reluctancy of homeless shelters and medical facilities to accommodate pets—albeit for legitimate health and safety concerns in some cases—forces people experiencing homelessness to choose between physical and mental health, a choice that ultimately exacerbates the issue of chronic homelessness.
  
  
  When it comes to solving homelessness, there are already a number of suggestions by activists, scholars, and community members, from addressing systemic issues of drug and alcohol abuse, to inadequate mental healthcare, gentrification, and racism. Each of these issues should be addressed to ensure all people have access to affordable, quality housing, but another potential facet of this solution is to acknowledge the human connection to their pets and the lengths to which humans of all circumstances will go for their four-legged friends.
  
  As Andy says, “It’s having another heartbeat that’s on your side.”