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Loading...Will Paying Panhandlers to Foster Puppies Pay Off?
I used to pass through a large subway station in Manhattan on my commute home, and every evening on my way to the train I saw a panhandler begging in the station with a couple of kittens at his side. The kittens didn’t look healthy, and they never grew — but that was because he swapped them frequently for new kittens. I don’t know where he got his supply of kittens or what he did with the ones who grew too big for his standards. Every day I was tempted to grab the furry babies and run so I could nurse them back to health and save them from whatever fate awaited them when they grew up, but I knew he would just replace them with new, sad kittens.
This memory leapt to mind when I read SFGate‘s story about San Francisco’s plan to recruit panhandlers to foster homeless puppies. The proposed program, called “Woof,” won’t help homeless people: only those with housing may participate.
The city will pay $50 to $75 per week in exchange for fostering the puppies on the condition that participants in the program stop begging. If they are caught begging with the puppies, the dogs will return to the shelter.
The two goals of this project — to get panhandlers off the streets, the other to socialize puppies who would otherwise be euthanized — are laudable. Ideally they could brighten the lives of former panhandlers, save the lives of homeless dogs, and improve the quality of life for San Francisco’s residents by reducing the number of beggars on the streets.
But will this program achieve those goals? Several factors will determine the outcome:
- How much money do Bay Area panhandlers generally make in a week? If they make more than $50 to $75, there is no financial incentive for them to participate in the program, or to abide by the rule against begging if they do participate.
- What enforcement efforts will authorities make to ensure that foster parents don’t beg with the puppies? How high are the chances that they would get caught if they did so?
- Each puppy would be fostered for only two to six weeks. Is that enough time for someone with minimal training to socialize a puppy so problematic that he or she had been deemed unadoptable? It usually takes longer than that.
If Woof does succeed it will be a marvelous boon to panhandlers and to homeless puppies. The odds seem gainst it. What do you think?
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Read more: animal shelter, animal welfare, animals, begging, dogs, foster, homeless, panhandling, san francisco
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81 comments
+ add your ownThank you for sharing.
Non sono sicuro di questa idea ma grazie per la condivisione.
While I am all for programs that prevent euthanizing homeless pets and getting people off the streets is a wonder thing, I do see some problems with it. First and foremost is, I think most panhandlers make more than $50 a week on the streets. I understand why the city/county/shelter can not pay more, but I just don't think it will be of real financially incentive. Also, who will train the people to work with the puppies properly? Who will pay for their food, supplies and any needed vet care? Who will screen the people to make certain they are not animal abusers? If all these challenges can be worked out, then it would be a wonderful program; one that might even provide the homeless (humans) with a new purpose in life that they need to get off the streets and employed AND save the life of dogs that would other wise be euthanized at the shelter.
If they keep being checked up on. There are only so many homes.
Who will over see the fosters? How will they know if these people are reliable without doing the usual home checks and vet reference checks? Most homeless animals have URIs or similar ailments, who will fund/administer the medication? And i'm not saying all homeless people are scum bags, but there is a lot of horrors that go on 'on the streets' (dogfighting...) In theory it sounds OK, but i dont know how practical or safe it is...
Who will over see the fosters? How will they know if these people are reliable without doing the usual home checks and vet reference checks? Most homeless animals have URIs or similar ailments, who will fund/administer the medication? And i'm not saying all homeless people are scum bags, but there is a lot of horrors that go on 'on the streets' (dogfighting...) In theory it sounds OK, but i dont know how practical or safe it is...
To Ryan, not all homeless people are unable to take care of themselves. There are many homeless that are smarter than you but due the economy find then selves in the homeless position. I really feel sorry for you thinking you are better than the rest of us.
They don't have the means to take care of themselve so what in god's name makes anyone think they can take care of a puppy, much less a special needs puppy? That's like telling meth-heads that we will give them cocaine if they quit using meth. What is wrong with you people? Use your heads. Make all commercial breeding against the law, punished by severe, felony standards. No excuses and no breaks. This is how you get people to help the needy puppies. If people are not breeding all the time and making money from it, the gene pool will clean up and there will be less puppies that are "special needs." Anyone who has been around any kind of breeding place knows that none of the animals are truely healthy. Make it a felony and follow through on the strict punishment.
I think it's a good idea if they actually enforce it. While it's not great to have dogs in shelters not getting a whole lot of attention that they need it's better then them ending up on the street as a begging prop.
I really hate seeing beggars with pets on the streets, everything in me says give them money to look after the animals but I know it just encourages them to bring the dogs/cats out in the cold in future which isn't something I want at all. So I have to keep walking without doing anything to help them and it makes me feel awful.
If the plan is properly implemented, what a positively wonderful idea!
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