There are many people who, to their credit, worry about the treatment of pets they encounter. They may well be particularly concerned about the pets they see connected in one way or another with a homeless person.
If it’s any reassurance to kind-hearted pet lovers, here’s a recently released Canadian study that may well reflect any culture where pets are generally revered.
That the people who experience homelessness are badly treated is evident to anyone who cares to look. Do they pass this treatment on to their pets? The question may well occupy concerned citizens to the point they are quite indifferent to how badly society treats homeless humans. Their concern is focused instead on the homeless travelling companion — most often a dog.
Pet lovers quite probably worry that a homeless person, like anybody else who is facing life’s frustrations and unable to do anything about it, might be tempted to “come home(?) and kick the dog” to burn off some of their anger.
It seems, however, that the people who are homeless do not in fact practice revenge upon those who are often the best and most steadfast friends in their lives. Many are living rough precisely because they cannot take care of their their pets while living in a shelter or while borrowing a friend’s couch. Some might say that this represents irresponsibility. Others are inclined towards the idea that a pet is an important survival mechanism, a constant, uncritical support in hard, uncaring world1.
Read more and watch video at Global News: Homeless Canadians take good care of their pets, study says
Footnotes
- For a discussion of research about the benefits of pet ownership, check out this podcast at The Happiness Lab: Episode 4: Let Slip the Dogs of More Happiness
