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Pets are for everyone
I recently went to a workshop on how people experience poverty in their daily lives. The presenter said something that really stuck with me, "Help people where you find them, not how they got there." This phrase couldn't be more true for the work we do at Second Hope Circle.
While many people feel that if you can't afford pets you shouldn't have them, what happens when someone who has low income already cares for pets? Do we say "You shouldn't have pets! It's irresponsible!" Or do we try to help them and their pets? We don't encourage anyone regardless of income to adopt, buy or take in pets they can't adequately care for. Yet it's still going to happen, and more importantly many people find themselves in financial difficulty unexpectedly.
We help people and their pets where they are now. We don't judge them for the past, we see the present and the future. Pets that need vet care, food, training or temporary care need it NOW and they can't wait for us to give people a lecture.
#petsarefamily
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New Project
We want to bring the lived experiences of people in poverty and precarity to animal welfare professionals across the province. There are so many compassionate advocates, veterinarians. shelter staff and animal control officers in this province. Yet our research and work has indicated that many animal lovers are refusing care and compassion for people and their pets because they are low income.
Pets are losing out. So are their guardians. Many studies indicate that if someone has a difficult time accessing professional services or is treated badly, they are less likely to trust and go to other professional services. If a veterinarian for example is rude and judgemental to a person living with poverty they may be less likely to seek out housing assistance, dental care, or police (Leblanc, Lem, & Rainbow, April, 2017).
You might be thinking that this issue can't be widespread. Animal lovers are compassionate awesome people after all! Yet in our study of how Pets Effect the Lives of People Experiencing Poverty and Precarity, the second most desired program was sensitivity training for animal welfare professionals. Respondents living with poverty wanted animal welfare professionals to understand what it was like to provide compassionate customer service and care to them and their pets. Take this excerpt from our research study;
"Unkindness and lack of awareness to the experiences that people living on an extremely limited budget face, does not help people experiencing poverty or their pets. Even when social service programs are unable to help an individual, a compassionate and empathetic approach can make all the difference. The participants in this research said that being told they shouldn’t have a pet, or that there was nothing anyone could do, or that they should simply surrender their pet made them feel worthless, hopeless, distraught, and had serious implication for their mental wellbeing and health. Some respondents even contemplated suicide after hearing negative remarks about them continuing to care for their pet." p43
Sensitivity training could literally save the lives of people and their pets.
At this time we are starting to apply to grants, reach out to advocates, veterinarians and workshop leaders to make this project a reality. Want to help? Please connect with us!
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Thanks for your time!
Sincerely,
Kimberley Richards
Project Director and Founder
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