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Homeless
people with pets ‘refused’ shelter
A
NEW survey, released by The Blue Cross animal welfare charity,
shows that 86% of homeless people said that they had been refused
a chance to get off the street and into accommodation simply
because they owned a pet.
The charity is launching a campaign aimed at encouraging housing
providers across Britain to review their policies, and to break
the ‘vicious circle’ that pet-owning homeless people
find themselves in.
Steve Goody, director of companion animal welfare at The Blue
Cross, said: “For many homeless people a pet is their only
companion. Asking them to give up their dog to stay the night
in a hostel or B&B is like asking them to abandon their
partner or best friend.
“If they have to tie their dogs up outside a hostel overnight
most homeless people will not go in. Homeless charities like
St Mungo’s have said that by making access to accommodation
conditional on not having a pet, homeless people are placed
in an individuals position and their homelessness may even be
perpetuated as a result.”
The survey also reveals that a pet is the one good thing in
many homeless people’s lives. 88 per cent said that companionship
was the best thing about having a pet when homeless.
The statistics also show that pet owners on the streets were
significantly less likely to suffer from depression and be drug
users, than homeless people without pets.
As part of the pathway project, which brings together experts
from the animal welfare, housing and homeless sectors, The Blue
Cross has helped draw up ‘best practice’ guidelines
for incorporation into tenant and housing policies (publication
entitled ‘Pets and Housing - The Way Forward’).
The Blue Cross is hoping that they will form the basis of an
agreed pets and housing policy nationwide which will satisfy
the needs of both pet-owning and non-pet-owning tenants.
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