Oakland County Animal Shelter expands efforts to board pets for people experiencing homelessness

This story is part of a series that highlights the challenges and solutions around housing in Southeast Michigan and is made possible through underwriting support from the Oakland County (Region L) Regional Housing Partnership. 

Pet owners who stay at an Oakland County homeless shelter this winter will be able to temporarily house their pets at the Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center, thanks to a new partnership between the Pontiac-based Alliance for Housing and the animal shelter.

The free service will be available December through April. Pet owners must agree to have their pets sterilized if they aren’t already, and to reclaim their pets before April 15. The animal shelter will also provide pets with vaccinations, microchips, heartworm tests, and preventative medicine for heartworm and fleas.

Leah McCall, executive director of the Alliance for Housing, says the partnership arose from a recurring problem. She and her staff have repeatedly encountered people who were experiencing homelessness but chose not to go to a shelter because they couldn’t bring their pet(s) with them.

“The individuals that we work with, when they do have a pet, they’re very passionate,” she says. “I mean, they’re not going to shelter in the middle of winter because of it.”

McCall learned that the animal shelter had already established a similar partnership with Oakland Connects, a county program that helps residents find housing services and other resources. While a few animals had already been placed at the animal shelter through Oakland Connects’ relationship with the Alliance for Housing’s partner shelters, McCall says she sought to “formalize” a partnership that would make the service available to anyone staying at one of those shelters.

“I think this has been a barrier for individuals accessing shelter that don’t want to leave their pets,” she says. “And that’s really what the role of the Alliance in itself is: to help support our agencies and our shelters and services. And so we were able to come to an agreement so that those individuals could be safe and warm in the winter.”

Bob Gatt, manager of the animal shelter, says his organization has similar agreements with a handful of other Oakland County organizations. Those relationships had been mostly informal, with pets housed on a case-by-case basis. Last year, Gatt says, the animal shelter began creating more formal partnerships, housing 25 animals over the course of last winter as a result.

“Everybody in this building, everybody who’s employed at the animal shelter, has one thing in common, and that is their passion and compassion for animals,” he says. “And anytime that we can help, we do.”

Gatt adds that things “usually are a little bit slower” at the animal shelter during the winter months, making it easy to house pets owned by “people who are down on their luck and don’t have a home.”

“We want the people to find a home, but we also want to make sure that the animals are cared for while the winter is going on,” he says. “So it’s very important to us that we succeed in this endeavor. And if one year is any sign of what is going to be in the future, we’re looking forward to a robust campaign each winter.”

McCall describes the partnership as “a real win-win.”

“I’m excited … to be able to reassure people that their pets will be safe and taken care of and so will they,” she says.

Gatt emphasizes that the animal shelter is eager to create similar partnerships with other local organizations. 

“We’re open to any Oakland County organization that needs us,” he says. “We are here to help and we have a passion for animals, but we really don’t want to see the animals suffer in the wintertime. So any organization in Oakland County that needs our help when they have a homeless person or animal, we’ll be happy to help.”