As of January 2023, around one in every 500 Americans was experiencing homelessness. This is a 12.1% increase since 2022. Of these nearly 3.5 million people experiencing homelessness, an estimated 6-24% own pets. Often, their pets are the difference that helps them to survive their difficult situation.
“These pets offer companionship and unconditional love, they are non-judgmental and provide protection, especially for women,” says Feeding Pets of the Homeless, a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding and providing basic emergency veterinary care to the pets of homeless individuals. This organization is based out of Carson City, Nevada, but unbeknownst to many, Utah has a similar organization that has been around since 2017: The Street Dawg Crew of Utah.
Many homeless individuals rely on their pets for companionship and emotional support but often struggle to provide proper care for them due to their living situation. The Street Dawg Crew of Utah is a nonprofit organization that serves to help homeless people and those with a lower income keep their pets. The Crew steps in to provide food, veterinary care, and other necessities for these pets, ensuring that they are healthy and happy. The Cougar Claw had the opportunity to speak with the founder and president of the Street Dawg Crew, Margie Varela.
Varela started the group by distributing bags of dog food out of her car. What began as a small act of kindness has grown into an organization that has improved the lives of thousands of pets and their owners. “We try to help spay and neuter and help with vaccinations. Every now and then we’ll help with medical care if we can. When the pets are old and they cross Rainbow Bridge, we’ll pay for the euthanasia and the ashes removal and we give the owners the pawprint.” Varela explained.
For Varela, the fight to keep these pets with their owners is personal. “When you stop and think, we’re fortunate. We work and we have the money to provide for our pets. These people don’t, and some people don’t choose that path to take. I wouldn’t know what to do without my pets. My dogs have gotten me through some pretty hard difficult times,” she mentioned. “It’s very rewarding. It gets to your heart sometimes and sometimes it breaks your heart. We help Meals on Wheels. We help the Salt Lake City Police social workers. We help Salt Lake City Fire Department social workers, we give them food. We do a lot for the community, and it’s a good feeling. But I wouldn’t be able to do it without my volunteers. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my wonderful volunteers.”
Street Dawg Crew is just as much about helping people as helping pets, Varela noted. “Sometimes they just come for conversation and you’ll tell them how good they’re doing. They’ll come and say ‘Hey, I’m 10 days clean!’ Yay, 10 days is 10 days. You’ve given them that confidence to keep going.”
The Street Dawg Crew meets every other Sunday at Pioneer Park to hand out food and supplies to those in need. Varela welcomes anyone willing to volunteer, with one condition: “We ask that you send us an email at [email protected] so that we can have a waiver signed. It’s just a precaution because we’re at a park, but we’ve never had trouble. People know we’re there for good good things and good reasons. We’re not worried about anything going on.”
