What does a pet mean to those who have no home?

while waiting for the traffic lights, I saw a man pushing a shopping cart and a dog. There is nothing in his shopping cart except a few bags. He put a bowl on the sidewalk and poured water from the bottle. The dog is waiting.

I met them again on my way home. This time, the dog is riding in the car-when you have a golden retriever, there is no room for anything. The dog looked happy, watching people coming and going, while the man was pushing a cart.

The relationship between people and dogs is obvious. But should homeless people have pets? Why do they have pets?

Research shows that pets are of great significance to homeless people, and can even be the motivation to clean up, get off the street and/or get a job.

according to Owen's description in 213, the characteristics of pets are embodied in what she called "redemption narrative" people or former homeless vagrants: "encouraging them to change their lives or preventing them from taking their lives."

Owen gives an example-Donna, who lives in the car with her cat in San Francisco. When talking about her cat, she said, "She is my only source of daily and stable feelings and friendship. It is my only one. I can't imagine how life will go on without her. "

According to Owen, when the homeless talk about their pets, they show their responsibility to take care of animals and accept their unconditional love, rather than being judged for their mistakes in life.

In fact, a survey of homeless young people in Los Angeles initiated by Roddis, Wan Zhoubo and Les in 214 found that although pets bring them some troubles (such as entering shelters, pets are usually not allowed), they can also bring psychological benefits. In particular, young tramps with pets are less likely to feel lonely and depressed than those without pets. Although many people report that it is sometimes difficult to provide support to their pets (such as veterinarians), most people say that they make sure that their pets can always be fed first.

The advantages and disadvantages of this discovery are also affirmed by Lem(216), who said that dogs provide safety and emotional support for homeless young people. When a person's history involves trauma and unsafe attachment, just like homeless young people, attachment to pets may even be the first safe attachment in their lives.

People may be surprised to find that homeless dogs are usually healthy and well cared for. Williams and Hogg (216) compared the dogs of 5 homeless people with those of 5 people with only families. After the owner completed a questionnaire survey, they gave the dogs a brief veterinary examination. Homeless dogs are unlikely to be obese or have behavioral problems. On the street, dogs are more likely to get along well with others. They often spend a long time walking every day, and those dogs with families don't have to walk all day.

Disadvantageously, some dogs have calluses on their paws because they have been walking on city streets for a long time. Only 39% of homeless dogs get the latest vaccine, and only 3% of dogs get rid of worms regularly. Many owners say it is difficult to get veterinary medical insurance. This shows the value of clinics that provide free or low-cost veterinary services to low-income families or people without housing.

Roddis, Wan Zhoubo and Les sum up their research and say, "Because the mental health of homeless teenagers with pets has a positive impact, we suggest that service providers do their best to support keeping pets in this extremely fragile interpersonal relationship.

In their research, about a quarter of homeless young people have pets. It seems that for those homeless people who have pets, helping them support their pets may also help them, because pets have potential beneficial effects. However, we still need to better understand the psychological mechanism that pets can improve mental health in this group.

In-depth research can also continue to explore the influence of attachment on those who have attachment problems in the relationship between pets and their owners.