Can homeless people properly care for pets?
This and other news for the week ending June 20, 2025
In other news: San Diego Humane Society falsely claims victory in a case where they were found to have violated ‘cruelty laws.’ The Chernobyl dogs 40 years later. In terms of stray animals, is it becoming the 1970s all over again? Vegan mac ‘n cheese to go. A plant-based, not-quite “grand-slam” breakfast. What is good for animals is also good for many women. Fish feel “excruciating” pain. Do you have what it takes to save lives? Communities are looking for someone to run or help run their animal shelters. A little dog with her whole life ahead of her fell victim to abusive, uncaring pound employees.
These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:
San Diego Humane Society falsely claims victory in a case where they were found to have violated ‘cruelty laws’
As reported last week, a California Court issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the San Diego Humane Society from refusing to provide shelter and care to kittens and lost cats and instead abandoning them on the street. While the ruling supports the legality of community cat programs, including for feral cats, it requires shelters to comply with state laws regarding abandonment and animal care.
Specifically, pounds are guilty of abandonment if they release, rather than admit, friendly cats that are sterilized (without an ear-tip), microchipped (even if unregistered), wearing a collar, clothing, or accessories, have signs of recent medical treatment, or the finder credibly believes the cat was abandoned. The Court also ruled that kittens under 12 weeks old and social kittens aged 12 weeks to six months must be admitted into the shelter.
In a bid to recast the Court’s ruling against it, the San Diego Humane Society claimed victory in the case — a claim echoed by apologists for “shelter” malfeasance like Kristen Hassen — even though the Court ruled against SDHS and prohibited them from making any changes to the program that would reduce protections for kittens and for adult cats who are social with people.
CBS originally wrote an article regurgitating SDHS’s false claim of winning:
It was a lie, and CBS quickly removed the article when presented with the truth. (Hassen did not, which is unsurprising since she is one of the primary architects of the abandonment policy being embraced by regressive pounds like SDHS.) The link to the original story now leads nowhere:
CBS subsequently reported in a revised article that “A judge found the Humane Society’s Community Cat Program violated state law…”
Can homeless people properly care for dogs?
Almost 30 years ago, the shelter where I worked had a program to care for the pets of homeless people. We provided free sterilization, free food, free medical care, free advocacy with government agencies, and occasionally, free boarding during periods of hospitalization or even incarceration. It was not without its detractors. Some people complained we were legitimizing the idea that homeless people should have pets. But it wasn’t that simple.