5 reasons homeless people deserve to own pets

Written by: Vernon Lam

I once questioned whether the homeless deserve to take care of a pet when they're already struggling to take care of themselves. Surely it was selfish of them to be giving their pet a horrible life by subjecting them to the harsh conditions of the streets?

It's a humanistic trait for us to judge, as this is simply how we make sense of something unfamiliar. And I was quick to judge that homeless don't deserve the pets.

Homelessness is often not a choice, and for those who live with homelessness, pets can provide immense psychological benefits and companionship that can just be their reason to improve their life situation. It is a harsh reality that we may not realise in our everyday lives, a small thing such as owning a pet can help people power through these personal and financial difficulties and provide emotional and mental resilience.

1. Pets and loneliness

One of the reasons why those among us who are homeless own a pet is to fulfil our sense for belonging and companionship. Many who are homeless don't quite have the support networks that others do, leaving them feeling like no one understands or that the world is out to get them. They have minimal daily interactions with others and lack the social or emotional support that our families, friends, colleagues or communities normally provide us.

A pet, whether a dog or cat can become their great companion and they will always be loyal. People that are homeless or less fortunate may also have many vented up emotions that they want to express, a pet can be a great listener and an even better emotional support.

2. It makes them more approachable

It is an unfortunate reality that some of us feel uneasy when we come across someone who appears to be homeless. In western culture, homelessness is often associated with other negatively perceived behaviours such as alcoholism and drug abuse, lack of ambition, mental illness and even crime. We fear for our own safety, so it's only natural that when we come across someone who looks unfamiliar or unpredictable, we instinctively put our guards up.

You can imagine that being on the receiving end of this would be nothing short of demoralising.

To put it straight, it's not anyone's fault that this occurs, especially in big cities where homeless people are simply ignored by the masses of people bustling their way to their offices. We are all too caught up in our own worlds to stop to sympathise with someone less fortunate.

Those living on the streets with pets are very much more approachable, as we instinctively perceive their dogs (or cats!) them as cute, adorable, and needing care. For some of us, this feeling breaks down the shields that we automatically have up, leading us to feel a greater sense of sympathy for the dog and its owner.

Those homeless would finally have the chance to feel like they're being treated fairly and equally.

3. Safety and Security

Many of us who haven't experienced homelessness do not think to the fact that living on the streets poses many safety and security concerns.

Shelter provides us safety and privacy so that we can fulfill our very fundamental, physiological needs like food, water, warmth and rest. Living alone on streets leaves us in a vulnerable situation where there is a constant threat to our wellbeing and safety - robbery and abuse can come at any moment. It is a much more arduous task to fulfil our physiological needs when we don't have a private space to feel safe in. In fact, some experiencing homeless tend to sleep during the day as it is often safer.

Owning a pet can help someone homeless keep a little bit safer on the streets. Dogs are well known to be protective of their owners and will alert them if someone or something poses a threat to them. Any of their few belongings is likely essential or meaningful, and if it were stolen from them, it would deeply affect their morale.

4. Caring for a pet gives us hope

The companionship of a pet to those that are homeless provide them with the essential needs of being human such as love compassion trust and loyalty. A pet to a homeless person can uplift the spirits and provide them with the company they need to maintain their emotional and psychological resilience from issues arising through personal and financial hardships.

We all are aware that it is important to maintain routine and responsibility in daily life, as this provides us with purpose and goals to achieve. Owning a pet requires a lot of responsibility and this responsibility may be much needed by people of the homeless to ensure that they have goals to reach such as, providing for their pet.

5. Motivation

The responsibility that caring for a pet also provides a sense of confidence and motivation. Knowing that your beloved pet is dependent on you for the survival, and being able to provide for them only gives you more confidence that you are are a capable individual. The feeling of motivation is empowering, and can inspire many of those suffering from homelessness to develop themselves so that they are able to improve their life situation.

Caring for pet of a homeless person can be the first step a person facing rock bottom takes to get the wheel rolling, prompting them to develop skills to improve their employability so that they can better provide for their pet and the expenses that come along with owning a pet.

Motivation can be all they need to beat the cycle of homelessness.