Oregon Humane Society and Portland Animal Welfare Team offer neuter clinics and other low-cost per services for housing insecure pet owners
The big German Shepherd, Rolo, and the pit bull, Titan, sit with their owners, Kaniko and Bari, on the sidewalk while they wait in line at the Portland Animal Welfare, or PAW, Team Drop-in Clinic.
The line of dogs and people goes around the block. Taking care of a dog can be expensive for anyone, but for people with low income or those who are homeless, resources like this can make the difference between having a pet or not.
The PAW Team clinic is one of Portland's few affordable veterinary options. In addition to offering a sliding scale, organizations like PAW Team and Oregon Humane Society, or OHS, provide free care to dogs in the homeless community.
“I have been coming to PAW since I got Rolo,” Kaniko said. “It’s budget-friendly. This is the only clinic like this in Portland. Some are income-based, like OHS, and they have a waitlist.”
Kaniko and Bari, two friends who live in apartments in Northeast Portland, find convenient pet care at PAW.
“This is a great place, and they’re always nice, I always feel comfortable,” Bari said.
Located in a former DMV building on Northeast Broadway near 82nd Avenue, PAW depends on volunteers to provide free and low-cost veterinary care to cats and dogs with owners in extreme poverty or experiencing homelessness.
Nicole Perkins and Briana Shrode, PAW co-directors, see a growing number of clients while pet owners spread the word about PAW and read about them in the Rose City Resource Guide. PAW now sees about 1,200 to 2,000 pets per year.
“The biggest challenge is the need is greater than what we can provide,” Perkins said.
Veterinarians from various backgrounds, including emergency, holistic and general practice, volunteer their time from once a year to once a month. Pet stores and community members donate 80% of supplies and medications.
PAW Team’s first tier of care is the Pet Supply Bank at the same location as the Drop-in Clinic. A large room is stocked with donated food, leashes, bowls and other essential supplies for free. The supply bank distributed 53,000 pounds of dry dog food last year, according to PAW. The Pet Supply Bank is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., serving 60 to 100 people daily.
Wellness and prevention at monthly first-come, first-serve drop-in clinics is the second level of care.
“We try to make it easy for folks to access the Drop-in Clinic here once a month and sometimes at Rose Haven and other places,” Perkins said. “We have to turn folks away everywhere. We do see other needs and can provide some acute care but the messaging is focused on wellness.”
The Drop-in Clinic opens at 10 a.m., and the line starts before 9 a.m. The first 25 people get numbers and check in with volunteers to review basic information and health screening questions about their pets. The next Drop-in Clinic at 1718 NE 82nd Ave. is on Saturday, July 13. Nonurgent, routine care is the focus.
Two volunteer veterinarians share a space with tables and neatly organized shelves of supplies. They administer vaccines, microchips, flea medication and basic care. Pet owners wait outside until staff treat their pets. Staff then follow up with owners, often giving advice and medicine to take with them.
The scheduled clinic with appointments throughout the month is the third tier of care. In addition to wellness, PAW staff can provide some ongoing care and medication for aging pets or those with chronic conditions. They can treat superficial wounds along with skin and ear infections and gastrointestinal issues. The pharmacy can provide supplements and prescription diets but they do not fill prescriptions from other clinics.
At any time, 200 to 300 pets under PAW’s care fall into this ongoing care category. Pet owners complete an intake application and it can take four to six weeks to schedule an appointment.
“The most rewarding part of this work is being able to see pets who need care and be able to provide for them and see the family thriving,” Perkins said. “We make sure each person is part of the journey with successful pet care and able to obtain care. We do work closely with our clients and seeing that direct impact is very cool.”
In addition to the Drop-in Clinic and Scheduled Clinic, PAW works with OHS to provide care at clinics hosted by nonprofits in Portland.
OHS provides supplies and basic health care as well as spaying, neutering, surgeries and more involved treatments at the OHS Community Veterinary Hospital at 7865 NE 14th Place in Portland.
Kelly Bremken, OHS veterinary social worker, sees the value of maintaining intact relationships between people and their pets. Much of this depends on health care, according to Bremken.
“It’s important to keep pets and people together and create a place where people can get subsidized care for pets,” Bremken said. For people facing housing insecurity, keeping relationships intact is important.
OHS works to make care affordable, using a sliding scale for owners with insecure housing, Bremken said. OHS can neuter/spay a cat for $30 and a dog for $100, based on an income guide for public assistance.
Staff also research and find outside grants to help people afford pet care, according to Bremken.
Laura Klink is the public information officer at OHS. Last year, OHS provided over $1 million in subsidized care, according to Klink.
“I see the pride people have in taking care of pets,” Klink said.
She and the OHS team have seen homeless folks keep their dogs for years and provide for them, however challenging.
When people live on the streets, their ability to care for their pets may not extend to complicated surgeries or end of life care. OHS helps people navigate the process of surrendering a pet to be rehomed. Occasionally, people face the hard decision of saying goodbye to their dog, often because they exhausted all other options. This is especially true when a dog has more complex and expensive illnesses like diabetes and skin allergies. The admissions team at OHS tries to ease the process.
OHS and PAW Team work together as animal welfare partners and peers. They provide neutering clinics and some grooming for cats and dogs. About 60% of their clientele are dogs and 40% are cats. They partner with nonprofits to help homeless pet owners.
In addition to care at the hospital, OHS partners with Blanchet House and Portland Street Medicine to provide care to pets with homeless owners. The organizations know the people, and with input about the population they serve, OHS gets to know the animals.
OHS’s Community Veterinary Hospital provides free veterinary care at Blanchet House clinics and distributes donated supplies, such as coats, leashes and carriers. OHS staff join Portland Street Medicine volunteers to see pets and distribute supplies at these clinics.
“PAW Team hosts high-volume drop-in clinics at the Central City Concern Blackburn Center, which is both a medical and housing facility at NE 122nd and Burnside, literally on the MAX line,” Perkins said. “A Safe Rest Village run by Cultivate Initiatives is just a block away so those clients can access the clinic.”
Pet owners can also drop in at Transition Projects Resource Center downtown. The clinic has a waiting room and a large community room where the doctors work.
Vanessa lives in a tent with her dachshund, Bear, whom she brings to lunch at Blanchet House. Bear has been with Vanessa for 12 years and provides emotional support. She takes him to Dove Lewis and clinics hosted at Transition Projects for veterinary care. She is thankful they microchipped him because he got lost once, and she was able to find him.
“He loves the tent,” Vanessa said. “He knows the tent is his home.”
In Portland, Rose Haven at 1740 NW Glisan St., Do Good Multnomah sites and Multnomah County Behavioral Health Resource Center at 333 SW Park Avenue periodically host smaller drop-in clinics with the PAW Team.
“It's a way to try and reduce the amount of barriers people face getting care for their pets,” Perkins said. “If folks are already visiting a resource center to get their laundry done or if they’re already working with Central City Concern to get their own health care needs met, it just makes sense to combine the amount of services that someone can access in the same place, a place they are already going to and feel safe at.”
Finding a place to sleep at night is tough for any homeless Portlander, and it gets even harder when someone has a pet. There are 2,692 county- and city-funded shelter beds, according to the county, and at least 11,153 people experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County.
Darlene Chambers and Kyle Caron have found very few shelters where they can stay with their dogs. They are uncomfortable staying at a shelter downtown because of safety concerns.
We are limited because we have dogs, but I won’t be separated from my dogs,” Chambers said.
Single-occupancy units like the city’s tiny home sites — Safe Rest Villages and Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites — accept pets, as do motel shelters. Bybee Lakes Hope Center accepts service animals.
Some shelters have space for animals. All eight Transition Projects shelters welcome well-behaved, safe and housebroken pets. All Good Northwest’s low-barrier Market Street Shelter accepts pets. County-run extreme weather shelters take pets. All Do Good Multnomah shelters accept dogs, according to Chris Gardner, director of communications & marketing.
Duke Reiss, Blanchet House peer support and housing specialist, said pet owners face numerous challenges in finding shelter.
Family shelters don’t allow pets. Some other shelters take animals up to a certain capacity, and people can’t leave pets unattended. Some shelters ask guests to bring a kennel, or others may provide one. Shelters that accept pets take only one per person, Reiss said.
“I have had to support many people in both temporarily fostering their pets so they can go into shelter, especially family shelter, or having to permanently give up the pets so they could go into a shelter,” Reiss said.
If a homeless pet owner needs to go to the hospital or rehab or be away from their dog for an extended time, they may face the hard decision of leaving their pet. Multnomah County Animal Services can provide temporary foster care. OHS offers supplies if the pet has somewhere to go.
Reiss often refers people to Fern’s Place, a service for connecting pets with temporary care. The service offers matches for free temporary foster care for animals while people are away. After completing an application, the group can take a few weeks to find a foster home. Founded in 2022, Fern’s Place is dedicated to allowing pet owners the time they need for medical care or addiction treatment.
Bremken and other animal advocates are concerned about the gap in availability of boarding facilities for dogs when owners need to be away. Rather than lose their dog, many people prioritize their pet’s needs, foregoing hospital visits, temporary housing or drug treatment.
“There is no greater reward than keeping pets and people together,” Bremken said. “It warms my heart to watch staff participate in that and folks who love their pets so much. The challenge is so many people need assistance.”
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