Bill seeks to shelter both ends of leash
Humans are not the only ones who can end up homeless on the streets. Many have pets at their sides — and that can keep them from accepting shelter, a barrier that a bill moving through the state Legislature seeks to change.
The legislation by state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, would equip some homeless shelters to meet the needs of animal companions, offering not only shelter for the furry sidekicks but also food and vet services.
The idea is to remove a stumbling block that may keep some homeless people from accepting housing available to them: Most shelters do not accept pets because they don’t have resources to care for them, and that “forces unhoused pet owners to make an impossible choice between keeping their pet or getting shelter,” Hertzberg said. When it comes to that choice, many side with their precious pets over the offer of shelter.
Hertzberg’s bill, SB513, which unanimously passed the state Senate last month and now moves to the Assembly, seeks a permanent grant
program through the state Department of Housing and Community Development. It would build on a 2019 program to provide shelters with pet necessities, the Pet Assistance and Support program, and grants would go to local jurisdictions and nonprofits that operate shelters for unhoused people.
“This bill is about supporting both
ends of the leash,” Hertzberg told The Chronicle. “Supporting the pets of those experiencing homelessness creates a new path to safe shelter for thousands of unhoused Californians. The Senate’s unanimous passage underscores the urgency our homelessness crisis demands and shows we’re hungry for common
sense, humane solutions like this.”
“As a state, we have spent billions of dollars trying to get people housed but have often ignored some pretty simple and cost-effective solutions such as this,” Hertzberg said. He cited research findings indicating that pets provide companionship and a sense of well-being to people who don’t have housing.
The bill would essentially be a permanent version of the Pet Assistance and Support program, which received $5 million in 2019, to support roughly half of the 49 shelters that applied. In 2021, an allocation of $10 million extended the program. Hertzberg said these two pilots were successful, and the next step is a permanent program.
Hertzberg aides said that while there was high demand from shelters for the pet assistance, they did not have data on how many people the initial program helped to get off the streets. An Orange County shelter, run by People Assisting the
Homeless, said it was able to admit 33 pet owners and 36 pets in 2021. Of those, two transitioned to permanent housing, shelter officials said.
Though that may sound like a small ratio, it was better than the shelter’s overall average, said spokesperson Tyler Renner: Of the 328 people the shelter served last year, 13 total made it into permanent homes. Renner said funding from the Pet Assistance program “certainly helped” with pet deposits and rent when participants were matched with housing vouchers.
“People experiencing homelessness treasure their pets and are more likely to accept housing that accommodates them,” Jennifer Hark Dietz, the organization’s CEO, said in a statement. The state program “helped us build trust with pet owners, and ensured that the pets we have onsite are safe and healthy as we work to find permanent housing for their owners,” she added.
CEO Ken Craft of Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission told a Jan. 5 hearing of the Senate Housing
Committee that he had voluntarily spent 100 hours living unsheltered on Los Angeles streets, and quickly wished his dog was with him.
“I would feel so much safer if my boxer dog was sleeping next to me,” he said.
At 16 homeless shelters that his group oversees in the San Fernando Valley, Craft said he sees “firsthand that by not allowing
pets to come into the shelters, we are putting up barriers that are preventing people from ending their homelessness.”
Pets provide critical “emotional and mental health benefits” for people experiencing the trauma of eviction, displacement or homelessness, said Susan Riggs, senior director of housing policy for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals.
“The Pet Assistance and Support Program provides an elegant and low-cost solution for removing this barrier” to shelter, she said. “In fact, it’s rare to have such lowhanging fruit when it comes to addressing issues of affordable housing.”
Jessica Lefebvre is executive director of PALS East Bay — People,
Animals, Love and Support — which provides vet services and pet care to homeless encampments. At shelters where she helps out, “the biggest hurdle is finding funding,” she said, and emergency facilities can have wait times that exceed eight hours, especially with vet services stressed during the pandemic.
“Vet care in the East Bay is at a crisis point,” she said. “The solution for so many would be to be able to consistently and affordably provide preventative care.”
Lefebvre said funding from the pending legislation would be a big help to the shelters, adding that she supports its “harm reduction model.”
“Low barrier is the way to go,” she said.
Hertzberg expressed optimism his bill will succeed.
“The Senate’s unanimous passage sends a very clear message, and I’m hopeful that the Assembly will quickly follow suit,” he said.