For most families, their pets are part of the family and, when met with housing difficulties, they may face the decision of choosing a roof over their head or their pets. This is a decision no one should have to make.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, an amazing organization called Found House Interfaith Housing Network (FHIHN) provides pet support to individuals facing or experiencing homelessness. Garrett Parsons, Pet Support Director at FHIHN, shares their program, stories, goals, and how others can emulate this in their areas.

About Found House: Found House Interfaith Housing Network’s (FHIHN) mission is to provide shelter, housing, and support to families experiencing housing insecurity and to strengthen those services through interfaith and community partnerships. Found House IHN works toward the overarching goal of helping families find and retain stable housing, while keeping families together, including pets. Found House IHN recognizes that families often include four-legged members, and the Pet Support Program is designed to meet their needs. Established in 2014, the Pet Support Program is a pet shelter embedded into Found House IHN’s social service center providing a coordinated network of care for people and pets experiencing the crisis of homelessness, housing insecurity, or related crisis, with the central goal to keep people and their pets safe and together. This reduces the trauma of unnecessary pet surrenders and decreases animal shelter intake numbers. The Pet Support Program works to provide solutions for pet owners with the goal to re-unite pets with their human families upon obtaining stable, pet-friendly housing. 

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Keep it Humane Podcast Network

The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.