This man is homeless and living on Tacoma Ave near the McDonalds with this young female hippo in the back of a truck.
I met him this weekend on Pacific Ave while I was in town for Stand Up For Pits. He was sitting in a doorway with his Pibble in the freezing cold with a sign on his backpack that said he needed money. I asked about his dog and spoke to him for a while. He said she doesn’t eat regularly and says he’s thought about breeding her and selling her puppies. I spent time talking to him about these things and he listened. He is very open to help and did say while he won’t part with her he is very overwhelmed trying to care for her.
I then ran to the pet store quickly and the @standupforpitsfoundation paid for some canned dog food, a bag of Stella and Chewy’s, a collapsable bowl and a new collar. The store was out of sweaters and didn’t have any blankets. I also provided him with a 2 page list of local resources the pet store had printed out which included where and how he could get her spayed for free, dog food bank info etc. I brought it back to him and his hippo scarfed down a can in 2 seconds.
These situations aren’t good but the very best the folks of Tacoma could do is check in on them and continue to offer help. I’m happy to say that the pet store did offer to feed his pibble whenever she needs food and told me to tell him that, which I did. He also agreed that if he did decide to give her up, he would contact our friends at the pet store store and they will contact SUFP. He said right now his priority is to get his life together and that he knows she is too much for him to handle. So, I’m hoping for the best for both of them, happy to have helped in the moment but encourage people in the area to continue to offer support to him and his little Pibble. Thank you.
-Rebecca Corry
#standupforpits #educate