Indiana Senate Bill 314
My Dog is My Home has teamed up with Street Outreach and Animal Response from Indianapolis to advocate for Indiana's passing of Senate Bill 314, which will give judges the ability to include pets in protective orders issued to survivors of domestic violence.
SOAR and My Dog is My Home urge Indiana residents to contact your representative. Ask them to not only support this legislation, but to request an amendment--that the law extend protection to guarantee a survivor's right to access shelter with their animal.
Find your representative's name and contact information here.
Need guidance on what to say to your representative? See the ASPCA's Advocacy Alert on SB 314 for talking points and an example of an email you can send to your representative. But don't forget to customize! Remember to include a request to expand the bill so companion animals in orders of protection can access shelters with their families. Use the text below as an example.
Thirty-two states already allow pets to be included in orders of protection, and I would like to see Indiana allow for it as well. But most domestic violence shelters do not have pet-friendly policies. I also urge you to expand this bill to ensure pets in protective orders are able to enter shelters with their families.
Advocacy Research Day
My Dog is My Home is to be a featured speaker at IPSL's Second Annual Advocacy Research Day at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Speakers include students and organizations using research as a means to advocate for social, economic and racial justice! This event is free and open to any member of the community. Click here to learn more about attending the conference.
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2017
Time: 10am - 6pm
Location: College of Mount Sinai Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY
Pop-Up Exhibit in Asheville, NC
My Dog is My Home is taking its exhibit back on the road! After a short stay in Bloomington, we're heading south to Asheville, NC. Our friends at Firestorm Books and Coffee will be hosting us for one month. Don't miss the special "Curator's Tour" on opening night--March 7, 2017 in the coffee shop.
Bloomington Service Fair Debrief and Pop-Up Exhibit
My Dog is My Home will be returning to Bloomington on Friday, March 3 to present on the outcomes of the November 2016 service fair. Please join us for a community discussion on our findings. The My Dog is My Home art exhibition will also be available for viewing.
Downtown Dog Rescue's Pet Resource Center - A Year in Review
Over twenty years ago, Lori Weise informally began providing services to the homeless animal guardians of Skid Row. The beginnings of her organization, Downtown Dog Rescue, started behind the Modernica furniture company's warehouse, where she organized free spay/neuter, mobile clinics, and distribution of pet supplies. After Modernica moved to Compton, Downtown Dog Rescue also moved its focus to the South Central LA area. After a long hiatus, Downtown Dog Rescue has returned to its roots in the Skid Row community.
In 2016, Downtown Dog Rescue opened the Pet Resource Center on Skid Row--a place where Skid Row residents can obtain supplies, medical treatment, and other services for their companion animals. Below are some of the statistics they gathered from their year of services. To read more about what they accomplished this year, please visit the Downtown Dog Rescue website.
Service Provided
- 50% of clients received spay/neuter services
- 80% of clients received pet food
- 30% of clients received a collar and leash
- 31% of clients received vaccines
- 25% of clients received microchips
- 10% requested medical assistance for their animal
- 36% of clients were given flea medication
- 30% of clients requested assistance with obtaining a letter stating that their animal is an Emotional Support Animal
Demographics
- 50% of clients were experiencing homelessness
- 38% of clients had a case manager working with them
- The majority of clients were between the ages of 30 – 69
- 65% of clients were unemployed
- 60% of clients were women
- 60% of clients were receiving public assistance
- 35% of clients had some college experience or a degree
- 65% of clients completed high school or up to 8th grade
- Almost half the client population was African American
- 27% of clients were Hispanic
- 19% of clients were Caucasian
Surveying for Animal Companionship in the Homeless Point-in-Time Count
A common question we are faced with in our advocacy for homeless human-animal families is "How many homeless people have companion animals?" Anecdotally, we can attest that companion animals are quite common. However, statistical research in this area is often too limited to support our eye witness accounts with numbers. Now, due to the awareness raising work of My Dog is My Home and its partnering organizations, certain communities are showing an interest in understanding the scope of animal companionship among the homeless. This winter, Toledo, OH and Los Angeles, CA have committed to systematically counting homeless people with companion animals. Both cities have added a question about pet ownership to the survey used in their annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count* of unsheltered homeless individuals.
Through their pioneering inclusion of homeless animal guardians in the PIT count survey, Toledo and Los Angeles are breaking new ground by recognizing that individuals and families with animals may face unique challenges to accessing services and moving out of homelessness. Understanding the scope of the problem opens new doors for creating policies and services that target this special population. My Dog is My Home applauds these cities' leadership in recognizing the human-animal bond in circumstances of homelessness, and we urge other cities to follow their example. We also ask you to be an advocate for this kind of change! Reach out to the agency responsible for your local PIT count and ask them to add a question about animal companionship to their survey!
*The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that all communities count sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in a PIT count on a single night at the end of January. Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.
Our Pilot Year
My Dog is My Home is embarking on a pilot year in Bloomington, IN this November. To commence our year of programming, we will be holding a service fair that will offer a range of free service to companion animals of the homeless including free basic veterinary care, animal care supplies, and dog/cat grooming.
Our kick-off event is less than a week away, but we are still short of our $2,000 crowdfunding goal. Please consider making a small contribution today. The impact of this event will go far beyond the people served on this single day--experiences and results from the service fair will be used to inform the entire year, so please help us make it a success!
Presenting at the CSWE's 2016 Annual Program
My Dog is My Home is thrilled to be presenting at the Council of Social Work Education's (CSWE) annual program in Atlanta, GA on Friday, November 4th. Founder and Director Christine Kim will be joining a panel of three distinguished professors known for their pioneering work in animals and social work. The panel will present a compelling rationale and an ethical mandate for the inclusion of content on human-animal interactions in social work education.
One of My Dog is My Home's approaches to increasing shelter and housing access for homeless people with companion animals is through training and education. We believe that by providing workforce development and education, we are contributing to a change in the way social services perceive animals within family ecologies. By changing the hearts and minds of our social service workers, we affect the inclusion of both two legged and four legged family members in service delivery.
Do you know someone going to the CSWE conference this year? Tell them to stop by our panel presentation!
Session Title: Human-Animal Interactions: Implications for Wellness and Social Work Education
Date: Friday, November 4, 2016
Time: 7:30AM - 8:30AM
Location: Atlanta Marriot Marquis Hotel, room International 3
Speakers: Page Buck, PhD (West Chester University); Janet Hoy, PhD (University of Toledo); Christine Kim, MSW (The Animal Museum); Shelby McDonald, PhD (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Click here for more information about the CSWE Annual Meeting.