From Reuters:
“Brazilian
city's homeless get incentive for going to shelter: beds for their pets”
A small city
in southern Brazil has found a way to attract more homeless people to one of
its shelters on chilly winter nights: They now also take in people's pets. Canoas
-- a city with an estimated population of 348,000 in the state of Rio Grande do
Sul -- came to the realization that many people living on the streets avoided
staying at the city's 14 shelters during the Southern Hemisphere winter now
taking place because their pets were not welcome, said the city's animal
welfare special secretary, Fabiane Tomazi Borba. "Many times, they prefer
not to stay in a shelter, so as not to abandon their pets," the animal
care specialist said.
Homeless
people and their pets can now sleep under a roof and find shelter from the low
temperatures at the La Salle Sao Paulo school facilities, which can house up to
150 people per day. Machado de Lima has been sleeping at the shelter with his
dogs. "If I couldn't stay at the shelter, I would take them (dogs) to
sleep with me. They sleep with me in the street," he said.
Homeless
people receive an amenity kit containing items like soap, towels, toothbrush
and toothpaste, and are provided with breakfast and dinner. Their pets receive
a veterinary checkup. Animal care specialist Borba said pets are checked for
parasites, vaccinated and castrated or spayed. "They can live here with
their parents, sleep warm, healthily and with the guarantee that they will not
transmit any illness. So the perspective is to care for humans, but, also, for
pets," she said.
^ This
practice is one that every town and city across the globe needs to implement.
It helps both the Homeless Humans and the Homeless Pets. ^
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