TumbleDry

Part of my Sunday morning ritual involves sipping a cup of coffee and going through PostSecret. I have been doing it for years. This morning there was an email comment to one of the posts that caught my eye, and for the first time I fellt the need to actually send something to PostSecret.

The comment said, “I don’t give money to homeless people if they have a dog.  How can you have a dog if you can’t even feed yourself?”

Here is what I sent to Frank at Post Secret:

During a routine trip to my vet a weeks ago I saw a donation box for http://www.petsofthehomeless.org in the lobby. I asked my vet about the organization and learned a few things.

Being homeless is frequently a temporary situation and not long them. People with pets sometimes have a harder time finding a home, because shelters and subsidized housing will not allow animals.

Homeless people are often the subject of scrutiny, jokes, and harassment and lack of understanding by those of us who have a home. The bond they feel with their animals is incredibly significant. According to Dr. Michael Lemm, “pets provide emotional support, companionship, so they can have a definitely more significant impact on the lives of their owner.”

Homeless people will frequently make sure their animals are fed before they eat themselves. They will also seek veterinary care for their animals before they seek health care for themselves.

I encourage your readers, especially the person who sent that email comment, to visit petsofthehomeless.org to learn more.

The website includes a Flickr feed with photos that I find both heartbreaking and amazing. Some of the pictures capture the unconditional love the people have for their pets, and animals have for their owners.

When I decided to leave my roommates and get an apartment on my own, we had just helped with the birth of six kittens. My roommates asked me to take some of them. At first I said no, and then I said I would take one, and then I (begrudgingly) broke down and agreed to take two.

Although I joke about them a lot, and have my own quirky sense of humor surrounding them (they have their own website and twitter feed), I am so happy that I have been adopted by Zan and Jayna. Becoming a pet owner at this stage of my life is one of the best things to happen to me.