After sitting in traffic for a half-hour, we arrived at Southeast 35th Avenue and Yamhill Street. It was an unseasonably cool and overcast morning in early July, and Street Roots was riding along with Officer Christian Holden, of Multnomah County Animal Services.
A nearby resident had called the county that morning to report that a man living in a van had left his husky and German shepherd out in the heat, and Holden was dispatched to investigate.
“It hasn’t been very hot the last couple of days,” Holden said as we approached the scene.
The vast majority of complaints to Animal Services alleging cruelty or neglect are unfounded, and this is especially true when the call is related to a person experiencing homelessness and their pet, he said. The agency performs about 1,300 abuse and neglect investigations each year.
While the agency does not track the exact number, Holden estimates 95% of the cruelty and neglect reports he responds to are unfounded.
He attributed this trend in part to the “hyper-vigilance” of the Portland community. In some cases, the caller may perceive that an animal is being mistreated, and his department doesn’t want to discourage people from phoning in those complaints.
But in some cases, he said, it’s an abuse of the system. The caller may have already called police several times, trying to get campers moved, with no result. If the source of their exasperation has pets, they call Animal Services next.
As we approached the broken-down Toyota Sienna, sitting on blocks with a California license plate, Holden notified its inhabitant that someone had voiced concern about his dogs’ welfare. Then he asked to see the dogs.
After making an off-color remark about the woman he suspected had called the county, Joshua Peters called his dogs from the back of the van. Holden, who looks for signs of malnourishment or medical ailments such as skin conditions and distress, could see right away they were both in good health.
He handed their owner his card with a list of resources for low-income pet owners printed on the back, and we were on our way. It was early, and that was the second call Holden had investigated that day about someone living in a vehicle.
The dispatch screen in Holden’s truck showed a backlog of reports to investigate and mandatory site inspections. The time spent in traffic and trying to locate Peters’ van, only to confirm Holden’s suspicions that there was no cruelty or neglect, could have been better spent.
But the opposite can happen, too. Sometimes the situation is much worse than the caller describes.
“The last thing we want to do is not respond to a call and then find out an animal was suffering or an animal died,” said Wade Sadler, interim director at Multnomah County Animal Services.
That’s why Holden approaches each call with an open mind, although the reality is that if an animal is healthy and has access to food, ventilation, shelter and potable water, along with regular waste removal, he likely cannot cite the owner for abuse or neglect.
Housed people can also be the targets of unfounded calls. Often neighborhood disputes or irritation over barking dogs can lead to complaints.
Sadler described a recent report that illustrated this common occurrence.
“We got a call yesterday,” he said. “Their concern was the dog was not being treated right because the dog was being left at home in the house while the owner went to work during the day, without anybody else in the home.”
Over the past decade, as Portland’s population has increased, the number of Animal Services officers has slightly decreased. Today there are about 10. At the same time, Holden said, Portland police have been taking on fewer criminal animal abuse investigations, leaving it up to him and other Animal Services officers. Meanwhile, unfounded reports of neglect and abuse, especially those involving homeless pet owners, have increased significantly.
Many unfounded complaints are spurred when a caller sees someone begging for money with a cardboard sign and dog at their side. They assume the dog must not be getting its needs met. But the reality is quite the opposite, Holden said; “these animals are with their owner all day long, and that’s their best friend.”
Contrary to popular belief, Sadler said, not having a home does not mean a person doesn’t love their pet.
He said Animal Services wants the public to understand that “just because they’re homeless doesn’t mean they’re a bad pet owner. Most of the time, they’re taking better care of their pets than they are themselves, and we recognize that.”
Officer Vicki Havlik, of Multnomah County Animal Services, said 15 years ago, she’d get dispatched to downtown Portland about once a week. Now she spends most her day in the city’s center. She said that from residents in the Pearl District to people on the streets, “everyone down here has a pet.” And when she gets a call about a homeless person’s dog, “I know it’s not going to be skinny,” she said.
The public tends to give pet owners experiencing homelessness more dog food than people food, Holden said, so most camps he visits are well stocked. This trend has been mirrored during the Willamette Week’s annual Gift Guide fundraiser. In 2018, donors gave $21,800 more to the Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank than they gave to the Oregon Food Bank.
The Pongo Fund is part of the reason low-income folks have access to dog and cat food. With 50 consistent distribution partners and a mobile pet food bank and veterinary truck that includes two surgical suites, a pharmacy and a digital X-ray lab, the fund has distributed more than 12 million meals since its inception in 2009. And it’s never run out of food.
Larry Chusid said that when he founded the fund, he knew that “if we ran out of food, we were not going to be a very good food bank. I have 70,000 pounds of food on hand right now.”
He, too, recognizes the strength of relationships between people on the streets and their pets.
“What most of us long for is a moment of peace that comes with unconditional love, and that’s what the reward is,” he said.
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He recalled an elderly man living in a van whom his fund assisted recently. He said the man had taken in a sick dog whose owner could no longer care for it. When the fund brought him a bed and food for the dog, he meticulously cleaned out a space in the van for the dog to rest in comfort.
“Having a dog that’s physically stable allows him to be mentally stable,” Chusid said. “Their lifeline is each other.”
Holden said he thinks Animal Services has a good rapport with Portland’s homeless community.
“They know we’re there to help when they need it,” he said.
Throughout his six-year career, he’s made a habit of visiting certain camps and individuals regularly. While he can offer their pets dog and cat food, along with free leashes and collars, he also distributes Street Roots’ resource guides and information about 211 to people who need more human forms of assistance.
“A misconception is that we play with animals all day,” he said. “Ninety-eight percent is talking to people. You have to fix the problem with the person if you want to solve the situation with the animal.”
He said sometimes he finds that when an animal is being neglected, it’s because the owner is neglecting their own needs, such as mental health care. If he can help the person, it ends up benefiting the pet.
Another misconception is that pets aren’t allowed to stay at homeless shelters with their owners. According to Denis Theriault, spokesperson at the Joint Office of Homeless Services, “Most of our publicly funded shelters, since 2015, let people bring their pets with them and offer food and bedding and other supplies to assist with their care.”
This includes Transition Projects shelters and Do Good Multnomah Veterans Shelter. “And it’s not just dogs we’ve seen at our shelters,” Theriault said in an email, “They’ve had lizards, birds and cats in addition!”
Part of the legal responsibility of owning a pet is providing it with veterinary care when it’s sick or wounded, Holden said. When Animal Services sees an animal in need of medical care, it typically issues a warning first, giving its owner a set amount of time to take care of an issue before a fine is enforced.
In Portland, several organizations and funds offer free or reduced-cost veterinary care to people experiencing homelessness and other low-income individuals (see a list at the end of this article). When a surgery proves too expensive or otherwise out of reach, pet owners have the option of euthanization. What they can’t do is let an animal suffer.
In more serious cases, when an animal needs to be rescued from harm or is a danger to the public, Animal Services may impound it.
During the past 12 months, the shelter impounded 6,500 animals, of which 4,900 were strays.
It also impounds an animal when its owner is arrested or taken away in an ambulance and has no one to retrieve it.
A bystander recently sent Street Roots a video of a man experiencing homelessness who appeared to be suffering from delusions while he was being arrested on several warrants in the Woodstock neighborhood. Onlookers repeatedly asked police what would happen to the man’s dog. Animal Services soon arrived to take the animal.
It would be the 11th time in 12 months that this man’s dog, Little Star, was impounded and then housed at the county’s only animal shelter, in Troutdale. Little Star’s case is unusual. Typically, a pet isn’t impounded more than once or twice, said Jay LeVitre, Animal Services’ spokesperson.
The shelter typically charges a $50 impound fee (it increases after the first time), along with $25 for licensing and a rabies vaccination, if needed, and then $15 a day for boarding a dog or $10 a day for a cat. The average cost to a pet owner is $72.50. But when a person can’t afford those fees, Sadler said, Animal Services finds a way to work with them, whether it be a payment plan or financial assistance.
“In our minds, the best place a dog can be is home. The longer they’re here, the more chance there is for them to experience more stress, and that can lead to medical concerns,” Sadler said. “We want to do everything we can to return them.”
In Little Star’s case, the owner twice received help from the county’s Shelter, Protect, Reunite program, which allowed the county to waive all his fees and provide a license, microchip, rabies vaccine, medical exam and basic veterinary care at no cost. The program is funded in part through $10,000 grants from Petco Foundation and Banfield Foundation, with the county picking up the rest of the tab. The program will serve an estimated 300 pet owners this year with fee waivers and reductions.
The county shelter also has a “Pets in Crisis” program, which Little Star was in when Street Roots visited. This was because the owner was in jail for an extended period this time around and had surpassed the six-day emergency boarding maximum. This program can be provided in urgent situations, including when the owner is fleeing domestic violence and needs somewhere to house their pet, as well as in the case of an unplanned hospital stay, eviction or other catastrophic event, such as a house fire. The county will hold the animal up to 14 days, or longer if a pick-up plan is determined soon, but the owner will have to forfeit the pet if no one retrieves it after an extended period of time. Twenty-seven animals have been held in the program in the past 12 months.
During the past 12 months, 62% of impounded dogs and 10% of cats were reclaimed from the county shelter. This is much higher than the national average for reclamation from government shelters, which is 35% to 41% for dogs and about 5% for cats.
Once an animal has been forfeited, it’s put up for adoption. In some cases, foster families will care for cats and dogs while they are sick, for puppies and kittens that need bottle-feeding, and also take in animals that need hospice care. Animal Services is always looking for more volunteer foster parents, and people who are interested can attend information sessions the fourth Wednesday of each month. Visit multcopets.org/foster for more information.
To report a pet emergency, such as an aggressive dog on the loose, a dog on a freeway, a pet in the process of being beaten or a pet trapped in a hot car, call the Multnomah County Animal Services emergency line 24 hours a day at 503-988-7387.
To report a dog bite, suspected neglect or abuse, or other issue, call Multnomah County Animal Services at 503-988-7387 during regular business hours.
Just don’t call on the assumption that a pet is being neglected or abused because its owner is experiencing homelessness.
RESOURCES FOR LOW-INCOME PET OWNERS
Good Neighbor Vet Clinic
Good Neighbor Vet Clinic, in partnership with Multnomah County, offers free rabies vaccines and health exams, along with other low-cost veterinary services, for pet owners who purchase a license for a cat or dog. The service is available from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturdays at the Multnomah County Animal Services shelter in Troutdale.
Call: Multnomah County Animal Services, 503-988-7387
Visit: multcopets.org/protect-your-pet
The Pongo Fund Pet Food Bank
This nonprofit provides more than 2 million healthy pet meals each year and an array of veterinary services from its mobile animal hospital. It also offers pet food delivery services for seniors through Meals on Wheels and other pet-related resources.
Call: 503-939-7555
Visit: pongofund.org
Fences for Fido
This nonprofit builds fences free of charge for households in Northwest and Central Oregon and Southwest Washington that keep their dogs chained up or in small enclosures in order to improve the pets’ quality of life.
Call: 503-621-9225
Visit: fencesforfido.org
PAW Team
The Portland Animal Welfare Team provides veterinary services to pet owners living at or below the federal poverty level. Volunteer veterinarians provide services by appointment only and at quarterly first-come, first-served weekend clinics. PAW Team asks clients for a $5 co-pay, but once a person qualifies, no one is turned away for lack of funds.
Call: 503-206-6033
Visit: pawteam.org
DoveLewis
For emergencies, DoveLewis offers the Velvet Assistance Fund. This donor-provided fund of $232,000 per year covers the cost of emergency procedures, up to $750, in support of recoverable illnesses and injuries to pets belonging to low-income people.
Call: DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital, 503-228-7281
Visit: dovelewis.org
Spay and Save
The Animal Shelter Alliance of Portland provides this program, which offers $15-35 spaying and neutering services for cats belonging to low-income Portland-area families who qualify.
Call: 1-800-345-SPAY
Visit: asapmetro.org/spay-save
Email Senior Staff Reporter Emily Green at emily@streetroots.org. Follow her on Twitter @greenwrites.