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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 2003)
BY JACQUELYN LEWIS JACQUELYN LEWIS Pro-Bone-O client Dave Jones waited more than three hours to receive care for Gizmo. “It was well worth it,” he said. Companions “We don’t seem to see starving animals,” she says. “Their basic needs are being met.” The volunteers also say they see just as many or more neglected pets who live in sta- ble homes. Boyden points out that the ani- mals of homeless people are often better so- cialized than regular pets as well. “Their fam- ilies spend a lot of time with them,” she says. Peterson agrees. “They are typically not put on a chain and left,” she says. “It’s harder for [the homeless] to take care of their pets, but I think it’s just like anyone if they make it their priority.” However, Peterson says she still encoun- ters individuals who say homeless people should not have pets at all. “But all they have to do is volunteer here once, and they will change their minds,” she says. “[The clients] provide a home for a lot of animals that wouldn’t have homes or would be killed in the shelters.” Board member Vicki Bockes says many of Pro-Bone-O’s clients rescued their pets. One man found a litter of puppies in a dump- ster, another saved the Boston terrier he saw being tossed from a moving car, and another found a dog abandoned behind a local gro- cery store. Bockes says homelessness — for people and animals — is a result of society’s throw- away attitude. “We live in a cast-off society,” she says. “We cast off our pets and our people as well. It’s disgusting. By taking in these an- imals, homeless people are stopping a pretty ugly circle in their own way.” Peterson adds that pets provide rare com- fort and companionship for the homeless community. “It’s their sanity and their life- line,” she says. Bockes agrees. “Simply because they don’t have a home doesn’t mean they should be denied the unconditional love that pets give.” Lay, a regular client who lives at a camp site, says her dog has been the difference be- tween life and death. “I decided I needed somebody, because I’m by myself.” She adds that most of her family members have died in the past couple of years. “He’s my life,” she says, holding Butthead on a red leash, “He’s the only family I’ve got. If I didn’t have him, I probably would have committed suicide al- ready.” Wagner says she feels a similar connec- tion to Maggie and Gizmo. “Pets are a com- fort to people,” she says, looking around. “They love you no matter what.” Bockes says Pro-Bone-O is imperative to the lives of not only the animals, but also the people the organization touches. “With the clients that we serve, we are ‘it,’ and this makes it even more incumbent on us to do more,” she says. “These people have very few resources, and without us, even for a moment in time, they might fall further into the cracks.” ew All of this is brought together by 15 local veterinarians and their staffs who volunteer for the organization, 15 volunteers from the Homeless people with pets find help. community, donations from local veterinary made Christmas T-shirts. The room is a flurry clinics and individuals, as well as fund-rais- illian Wagner and Dave Jones are of activity as volunteers hustle to care for ers. Several clinics provide free used, re- doting pet owners. The pair beams more than 31 pets within the clinic’s desig- turned or out-of-date supplies. Pro-Bone-O when the sleek, gentle doberman pin- nated four-hour time period. mostly cares for dogs and cats, but they ac- cer they call Maggie May Jones thrusts out a Homeless people hoping to find care for cept many types of animals, from rabbits to paw to “shake,” while Gizmo Dozer Jones, a their pets arrive at these clinics in droves — rats, and even a chicken. tiny black ball of energy and fur, shimmies by car, bus, bike, foot and just about any The clinic’s volunteers and clients alike between their feet. “They are always doing other mode of transportation available — and sing the praises of Pro-Bone-O. “I volunteer something new,” Wagner says with a loving they often wait more than three hours to see because I see the need and I have the skills to glance toward Maggie. “It’s like watching the veterinarian. “There are usually at least help,” veterinarian Roberta Boyden says. kids grow up.” 20 people on the list each clinic, and we usu- “It’s very rewarding. The improvement in an- One look at the dogs reveals that the two ally have to turn people away,” board of di- imal health is paramount and wonderful.” are indeed as pampered and well looked after rectors member Jeannie Peterson says. “Ryha owes her life to the kindness of this as the most beloved children. Maggie’s light clinic,” one client brown fur shimmers on top of well-defined says, pointing to a muscles, and chubby Gizmo almost appears to huge, tan-colored be smiling. What is not immediately evident is mastiff. that Jones, Wagner and both pets are home- “I’m glad they less. This small family drifts from one tempo- have this, because I rary shelter to another — a situation Jones de- really don’t have the scribes as “the middle of nowhere.” money to take him But today, Wagner, Jones, and especially to a vet,” client Dee Maggie and Gizmo, have found a small Lay echoes, patting pocket of warmth in the heart of Eugene. a fluffy black dog Along with more than 20 other homeless pet she laughingly calls owners, they gather at Pro-Bone-O, a non- Butthead. profit animal clinic which provides free vet- There are some erinary services for the pets of homeless peo- pets here who aren’t ple in the Lane County area. as healthy as Ryha, Pro-Bone-O secretary and treasurer Lyn Butthead, or Gilman-Garrick says the clinic began back in Pro-Bone-O volunteers clip the nails of T.J., a miniature pincer. Maggie and Gizmo. 1997 when she and local veterinarian Doreen Their ailments Hock became inspired by the devotion of pet range from uncontrollable diarrhea to a fox owners like Jones and Wagner. In order to qualify for assistance, Peterson trap wound. But, Boyden says, the clinic “What Doreen saw was how much pets says clients must match a “federal definition rarely encounters neglected pets. meant to people and how they would do just of homelessness,” meaning they lack perma- about anything for them,” Gilman-Garrick nent shelter. Many of the clinic’s visitors are says. She adds that the organization modeled pet owners living in their cars or at camp sites. its services after similar clinics that were in For these people, Pro-Bone-O offers a full Pro-Bone-O operates on the second and fourth Sunday of every month, from 9 am to 1 operation in Seattle and Davis, Calif. spectrum of basic veterinary services, includ- pm at the St. Vincent De Paul Lindholm Service Station, located on Highway 99 North. The organization operates out of a space ing vaccines, de-worming, flea medication, (The office will, however, be closed Dec. 28.) The clinic’s goals are to improve the health donated from St. Vincent de Paul at their skin, ear and wound care, along with occa- and well-being of pets and people who are homeless and cannot afford veterinary care, to Lindholm Service Center on Highway 99 sional emergency assistance. Clients can also prevent unwanted litters through education and, when possible, offer financial assistance North. This rainy Sunday, the small, warm pick up free bags of dog food and other pet ac- for spaying and neutering, and to stop the spread of infectious diseases and parasites in the waiting area is stacked with donated dog and cessories. In addition, the clinic gives out four community. cat food, vitamins, toys, and even tiny hand- spay and neuter vouchers each month. JACQUELYN LEWIS L More About Pro-Bone-O DECEMBER 24, 2003 9
