Anyone who has a pet knows these animal companions are a source of comfort and, often, a member of the family. For the unhoused population, pets can also be a lifeline.
That’s why one Arizona shelter has made veterinary services part of its care model. In this next story, we visit one of the only animal clinics in the country on a shelter campus.
Veterinarian Renee Fisher is treating Buddy, a teeny, tiny black and white Chihuahua puppy.
“So we're doing a little toenail trim, but he got his vaccines already, he was so brave. He got his little dewormer and also his microchip," Fisher said.
Fisher is a volunteer here. “He’s got those Chihuahuas shakes. There's your last little snack. Good job, buddy. You did it. You were so brave,” she gently coos to Buddy.
Buddy’s owner, Matthew Deiano, sits quietly in the corner of a tiny exam room inside the Marion and Bob Auray Companion Animal Clinic.
The clinic, which opened in July, is located on the campus of St. Vincent de Paul — a homeless shelter in south Phoenix where owners and pets can stay together.
For Deiano, this is more than just a vet visit. “It means a lot because he's going to serve as my emotional support animal,” he says.
Roughly one in five shelter residents who come through St. Vincent’s have a pet. Deiano used to be one of them. He recently moved into his own apartment after being unhoused for the last seven years.
"Now that I got the shots, I finally feel, once I get the whole round, I'm going to feel more safer to bring him out, but before I was a little anxious because of him constantly catching parvo or anything that's out there,” he explains.
Buddy is part of Deiano’s new start. And hopefully a buddy for life.
An onsite animal clinic
But vet care isn’t cheap or readily available for this population. And if a shelter doesn’t accept pets, that unhoused individual might forgo help.
Andrea Ariza works at St. Vincent de Paul. She says the clinic is connected to St. Vincent’s 100-bed transitional shelter for older adults and people with disabilities.
“That's actually a big reason why we started this because many of the residents that we support have a pet and for many of them, that's their only companion and their only family sometimes,” she says.
Another reason for having an onsite vet clinic? Access. Before building this 3,000-square-foot space, St. Vincent’s partnered with other organizations to provide mobile vet care across the Valley.
“And a lot of residents, they struggled to get there either on the bus or it was just too hot to go outside with their pets. And then some pets, they have to walk with them so they don't have the dog booties to get there too — so many struggles,” she explains.
A nationwide challenge
Genevieve Frederick is the founder and president of Feeding Pets of the Homeless, a national organization that partners with 2,000 animal hospitals across the country to provide basic emergency vet care.
“The average cost per pet is over $700,” she explains.
And it's not getting cheaper, nor is the need going away. She says homelessness rose by 18% between 2023 and 2024, "that's the increase. And along with those people, they're bringing their pets and we estimate that now 33% of homeless have pets,” which is much higher than much of the available data, which isn’t much.
Last year, Frederick’s organization spent $1.1 million to provide more than 1600 pets with emergency and follow-up care. “And that was after discounts!”
There's also this sense of responsibility, she says, among this population to keep their pet healthy, despite facing tough circumstances, day in and day out.
“A lot of times we have homeless tell us that their pet is what has kept them going,” says Frederick.
A simple goal
Back at St. Vincent’s animal clinic, Renee Fisher, the vet treating Buddy, says the services he received — shots, nail trimming and microchipping — would have cost upwards of $300 at a regular vet. Something Buddy’s owner couldn’t afford.
Here it's free. And the plan is to keep it mostly that way.
Cassie Boyle is the clinic coordinator at St. Vincent de Paul.
“So, our goal right now, the starter point, is we have vaccines in some of the basic care. So eyes, ears, and skin issues, says Boyle. “We've got medications that we can treat while they're here or send owners home with a treatment plan.”
Eventually, Boyle says, the clinic hopes to expand into more advanced services like spay/neuter surgeries, dental care, and X-rays. But all of that takes funding.
In the meantime, she says, “The big thing is vaccines, microchipping while they're here. So that way they can get into housing or get into shelters that require those vaccines.”
And that’s the end game here. To make sure both these pets and the people who love them have access to a safe and stable space until they can find their own place to call home.
