Despite the importance of companion animals to their guardians’ mental well-being, they can make it incredibly difficult to find stable housing. Most shelters for people experiencing homelessness ban companion animals for a variety of reasons. These include concerns about aggressive and destructive behavior, allergies, insurance coverage, limited budgets, veterinary care, a lack of trained staff, and the need for animal-friendly areas like dog runs.

However, most unhoused people refuse support when their animals can’t join them. That’s a serious problem. Without support, some will continue to suffer domestic abuse or be unable to find employment. Others will just take to the streets — all because they see their animals as family members and don’t want to be separated from them.

This creates a stalemate: shelters can’t accommodate companion animals and their unhoused guardians aren’t willing to give them up.

To address this gap, California’s Department of Housing and Community Development established the Pet Assistance and Support program in 2019. Between 2020 and 2023, the program awarded 37 service providers with close to $16 million over three funding rounds to help them accommodate companion animals. Each organization received between $100,000 and $600,000 per round. Awardees have until June 2026 to spend the funds.

Interested in the program’s impact, researchers from the University of Southern California Homelessness Policy Research Institute conducted a mixed-methods study. They analyzed four years’ worth of spending and outcome reports submitted by awardees to the Department of Housing and Community Development. They also worked with two non-profit organizations, My Dog Is My Home and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to interview a small sample of awardees for their insights on the program.

Program Benefits

Most importantly, the Pet Assistance and Support program improved service access. A total of 4,407 unhoused people and their 4,636 animals found shelter over the four-year period, with a fifth exiting the program to permanent housing.

Previous research has shown that across California, nearly half (44%) of those placed in interim housing return to homelessness, yet just 14% of program participants did the same. This demonstrates that the program meaningfully contributed to people’s ability to secure housing. In fact, the program’s peak in average award size in 2023 aligned with one of its highest levels of permanent housing placements.

The program’s flexibility allowed organizations to purchase not just animal food and supplies, but also liability insurance, one-off infrastructure like dog-bathing stations and kennels, urgent medical treatment for animals with life-threatening conditions, and behavioral training. The program was also relatively cost-effective. The average cost per person was $1,500, decreasing from a peak of $2,300 in 2022 to just $1,150 in the first half of 2024.

The study also found that organizations’ perceptions changed as a result of the Pet Assistance and Support program. Given concerns over animal behavior and potential animal-related conflict between residents, liability is one of the biggest perceived barriers to accepting companion animals. Yet, the smallest portion of program funding went to liability insurance — around 1% compared to 8.5% for animal food and supplies, 17% for veterinary services, and 56% for staffing. This suggests that liability was not as much of a barrier as organizations expected.

Although more than half of program spending went to staffing, organizations noted that hiring dedicated program staff increased service quality for animal guardians and reduced the burden on other staff.

It’s also important to note that many of the services offered — like spay/neuter and training — will continue to benefit guardians and their animals beyond the program. The infrastructure purchased with the funds will also help organizations continue to be animal-inclusive in the future.

Program Challenges

At the same time, the Pet Assistance and Support program was not without its challenges. For instance:

• Organizations struggled to meet Department of Housing and Community Development data collection requirements for biannual reporting on expenses and compliance. In many cases, they had to begin tracking new information like specific services that people received.
• Due to uncertainty around program coverage, not all services, like grooming, were provided for all people. Certain services such as dayboarding weren’t eligible but would’ve been helpful for guardians to access.
• Some unhoused people had multiple pets, which increased their resource needs.

The biggest concern was the temporary nature of the funding. While many organizations hope to continue accepting animals after the Pet Assistance and Support program sunsets in 2026, they’re not sure how they’ll cover the costs.

There were some limitations to the study and the researchers’ ability to assess the program’s impact. The program was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected organizational capacity across the board. Also, the study was conducted before all the funds were spent, so data for the remainder of the period (the last half of 2024 to the first half of 2026) weren’t collected or analyzed.

Still, the study shows that allowing companion animals in shelters means that more unhoused people can be helped. And for some guardians, being able to keep their animals with them addresses their long-term housing security. In California, advocates can call on decision-makers to secure the future of the Pet Assistance and Support program. For advocates in other regions, the program can serve as a model to follow. Ultimately, in recognizing the bond between unhoused guardians and their animals, animal-inclusive policies improve the well-being of both.