Over the past decade, Andrea Rich noticed something during disasters both natural and financial: People who lost their jobs and homes were also losing their pets. Some could no longer afford to keep them; others had to move into homeless shelters, where animals were not allowed.
“It’s bad enough to lose your home,” Andrea says. “Having to surrender animals brings even more suffering. I thought, if people could just get a little help with their pets for a short period of time, it would mean the world to them and the animals.”
A Perfect Position to Help
And, as the owner of a pet boarding facility, Andrea realized she was could offer the help these people needed. She launched Keep Your Pets, a program based in Jackson, Wisconsin, that helps families who would otherwise have to surrender their pets to an animal shelter.
“A lot of our clients are domestic abuse survivors,” Andrea says. “One woman stayed in an abusive relationship for years, until the man threatened her cats. Then she left.” While the women’s domestic violence shelter could not accept her animals, they called Keep Your Pets, which is on the call list for all local shelters. “Her cats were with us for six months,” Andrea says. “And she came every day to visit with them until she had a new home to take them to.”
Keep Your Pets also provides the kind of basics that a financially strapped family can’t afford: food and pet supplies, low-cost basic veterinary care, advice on pet problems from training to negotiating with landlords, and more. They’ll do anything they can to keep a family from having to surrender a pet to a shelter that may euthanize the pet before the family can return for it. “It’s wonderful to see the weight lifted off their shoulders,” Andrea says. “They didn’t know what they were going to do, and we can help.”
PetSmart Charities Helps Out
“You never know when life is going to throw you a curveball,” says Jenn Brossman, a PetSmart District Leader in the Northern Illinois – Milwaukee area. “I might need help like that someday—any of us might. I can’t imagine having to surrender my pets to a shelter, and it’s good to know there’s an organization that can take care of them until you get back on your feet. It tugged at my heartstrings, and I had to do something for them. The PetSmart Charities grant helps keep them going.”
Most of the funding for Keep Your Pets goes toward veterinary care, along with pet food, staff, and blankets and toys—the comforts of home, while the pets are away from home.
Reunited Feels So Good
Andrea is always happy to be able to keep a beloved pet out of a shelter, but what she really looks forward to are the happy reunions.
“I get emotional just thinking about this one man and his cat,” she says, tearing up. An older gentleman’s Social Security checks got snagged in red tape, and he lost his apartment. When the homeless shelter said they couldn’t take pets, the man chose to sleep outdoors on park benches rather than surrender his little friend. Then he heard about Keep Your Pets, and he brought his cat to Andrea.
Finally, the money came in, and the man came back. “The cat took one look at the man and melted into him. The man broke down, I broke down—we were all in tears!” she says.
“It’s a lucky thing to be able to help,” she says, wiping her eyes. “But I almost feel selfish, because it feels so good.”
