The two things in life that I am most passionate about it dogs and the homeless. I don’t know what it is, every time i see a dog my heart explodes with happiness and every time i see someone in need on the street my heart is ripped in a million pieces. I no longer allow myself to carry cash, because being in the city and having the feelings i have about people who need people, I was at a rate where I was going to be part of that group if I kept giving all my money away.
The worst part about living in the “Best City in The World” is the amount of homeless and even worse the amount of homeless with pets. Some people get really upset when they see people with dogs and cats that live on the streets. But to me, i totally 100% understand why they can’t give up their best friend. Because the sad truth is, that these people are PEOPLE and the people in this city and around the world, treat them like they are less than the dogs they have by their sides. These HUMANS go days and days without having a normal conversation with anyone, they go years without someone loving them, without someone looking at them like that are more than just a “waste of space”. The power of having a dog for these people is probably more than we could ever understand. To have someone look at you for love and protection, to look out you without judgement and to be the only company they really have.
The crazy thing to me is that most of these people have no always been on the streets, most of them had lives that they were proud of, families and friends that they loved and loved them back and a future. But somewhere down the road, they might have taken a wrong turn, got into the wrong group, or lost everything they had from a freak accident. And in most cases these pets are all they have left of the life they use to have, and some have taken stray dogs under their wings. Most of the time these people care more about the care of their dogs than themselves and give to split whatever food they do have with their fur-besites!
I was doing some research a few weeks ago on how I could help or if there was even anything that catered to the homeless and their pets. And what I found was mind blowing and made my heart so happy and my face so wet!
There are 3.5 million homeless Americans and almost 25% of them have pets! After a trip to New York City, Genevieve Frederick had a moment really she realized that she could and needed to do something and she did! She started Pets Of The Homeless!
This is their mission….
“Feeding Pets of the Homeless believes in the healing power of companion pets and of the human/animal bond which is very important in the lives of many homeless. They find solace, protection and companionship through their pets. They care for their pets on limited resources so they themselves have less. Our task, nationwide, is to feed and provide basic emergency veterinary care to their pets and thus relieve the anguish and anxiety of the homeless who cannot provide for their pets.”
Write here…
Megan Rose
Megan is the Co-Founder of Gal's Best Friend and the East Coast Editor. She lives in New York City with her 3 dogs. Megan works in the pet industry on the marketing side, Megan is also the Pet Contributing Editor at Bestprodcuts.com is an author of Rescuing Rumba (coming Fall 2021), and a border member of Global Strays.
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