Pet ownership in the unsheltered homeless population in Los Angeles

ABSTRACT

Objectives:

To examine pet ownership among unsheltered homeless adults.

Methods:

Surveys collected as part of the Los Angeles County (LAC) annual homeless count across three years were analyzed. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, participants completed 4,808, 4,815, and 4,259 eligible surveys, respectively. Weighted averages were used to be representative of LAC’s unsheltered population.

Results:

Estimates of pet ownership among unsheltered homeless adults were 12% in 2017 and 2019, and 9% in 2018. Among pet owners in 2017, 48% (n = 1,362) reported being turned away from shelter because of pet policies.

Conclusions:

Pet ownership represents a major obstacle to accessing shelter among unsheltered homeless adults.

Policy Implications

: More pet-friendly policies are needed to effectively serve many unsheltered homeless adults.

Summary Box

1. What is the current understanding of this subject? Little is known about the unsheltered homeless population including rates of pet ownership.

2. What does this report add to the literature? This study is the first to provide estimates of pet ownership in a large sample of unsheltered adults.

3. What are the implications for public health practice? The findings from this study suggest that pet ownership represents a major obstacle to accessing shelter and suggests that more pet-friendly policies are needed to effectively engage the large unsheltered population.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• Point-in-time count
• Companion animal
• Unsheltered adults
• ‌Shelter‌

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Henwood

Benjamin Henwood is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

Eldin Dzubur

Eldin Dzubur is an Assistant Professor of Research at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

Harmony Rhoades

Harmony Rhoades is an Associate Professor of Research at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

Patricia St. Clair

Patricia St. Clair is a Senior Data Advisor at the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center.

Robynn Cox

Robynn Cox is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.