LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — For Shauntel Hubert, the phrase “home is where my dog is” is literal.

Hubert has been living without a permanent shelter, and she said her dog, Dymond, has been her rock for 14 years. Hubert said she had stable housing and a job until her health changed.

“I had a home 3 years ago. I worked, I had everything, but when I got sick, I had nobody and when I lost my apartment, that was it. There was no support system; there was nothing,” Hubert said.

Nonprofits such as Street Dogz are working to fill some of that gap by providing basic resources, including food for pets and their humans. Janice Tucker, the group’s homeless outreach coordinator, offered supplies and practical help during outreach, including a cooling vest for Dymond, before the summer heat comes in.

“A cooling vest. You get it wet, or you take it off otherwise it’ll be like a coat,” Tucker said.

When homeless shelters allow people to stay with their dogs and other pets, more unhoused people become more willing to stay in a shelter.

That’s what my team at the University of Southern California’s Homelessness Policy Research Institute learned when we evaluated California’s Pet Assistance and Support Program.

California’s Department of Housing and Community Development established this pilot program in 2019. Its goals were straightforward: to make homeless shelters more accommodating to people with pets – mostly dogs – so that people living on the streets don’t have to choose between staying in shelters or abandoning their pets.

The program disbursed US$15.75 million between 2020 and 2024 to 37 organizations across the state. The funding allowed shelters to build kennels or other pet-friendly spaces, provide pet food and supplies, and offer basic veterinary care. It also covered the costs of staffing and maintaining insurance required to operate pet-friendly shelters.

People from around the country came to San Diego this week to learn how to create their own pet-friendly facilities.

SAN DIEGO — Babygirl, a young dachshund and chihuahua mix with long, golden hair, became homeless during the pandemic. So did her owner, and he searched far and wide for a shelter that would take the two of them.

Yet many programs in San Diego County only accepted humans.

“That was my deal breaker,” said Benjamin Noss, Babygirl’s 51-year-old owner. Sleeping in parks already filled Noss with despair. Why would he give up his one source of unconditional love?

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A San Diego homeless shelter is highlighting a program that allows people experiencing homelessness to stay with their pets, removing a barrier that often prevents people from seeking help.

Father Joe’s Villages is partnering with My Dog Is My Home to show how shelters can accommodate animals so people don’t have to choose between housing and their companions.

For Ben Noss, that option meant everything.

Noss and his dog, Baby Girl, are rarely apart. Even when she’s off leash, he says she never strays far.

Everyone deserves animal companionship, but the unhoused community is too often forced to make difficult decisions to care for their pets while living in shelters or on the street. This week, Theo speaks with Jillian and Christine with nonprofit My Dog Is My Home about their important work advocating for the unhoused and their pets, from accessible veterinary care to advocacy work to allow pets in shelter systems. Also: Theo remembers community members Shirley Raines of Beauty 2 the Streetz.