Keeping Pets With Families
Community Need
A whopping 70% of households in Arizona share their home with a pet, and nearly all consider them members of the family. Unfortunately, in times of hardship, many are forced to make impossible choices between caring for themselves and caring for their pets.
Because of flaws in the design of safety net programs, people with pets may lack access to safe shelter, housing, medical, mental health, and substance use treatment, and may face increased food and housing insecurity.
At The Arizona Pet Project, we believe, in times of hardship, people should not have to choose between getting the care they need and their pets. To ensure fewer families face these choices, we approach our work in two ways: Systems Change and Community Solutions.
Systems Change
The Arizona Pet Project was created to address systemic gaps in our community’s policies and human service delivery system that lead to inequitable access to healthcare, housing, employment, and safety.
To achieve this, The Arizona Pet Project has prioritized four goals:
Goal #1: Remove pet-related barriers to accessing human care for low-income, vulnerable, and disproportionately impacted individuals and households across Arizona.
Goal #2: Support the human-animal bond, which is proven to provide crucial social, emotional, and physical benefits to individuals, particularly those most vulnerable, at-risk, or isolated.
Goal #3: Advocate for systemic changes in Federal, State, and local policies to increase access to care and recognize the importance of pets as factors across the Social Determinants of Health.
Goal #4: Integrate pet policies and programs into social service agencies across Arizona.
Our Community Solutions
To meet the unique needs of community members in crisis with animals, The Arizona Pet Project has dedicated social workers supporting UMOM New Day Centers, Keys to Change, Foundation for Senior Living, Lost Our Home Pet Rescue, and Arizona Animal Welfare League.
In addition to our formal partnerships, The Arizona Pet Project works with hundreds of other nonprofit and government agencies across Arizona to provide case management, service, and resources to families when they have clients facing increased barriers or challenges because of their pets.
Since 2015, we have increased access to services and care for over 65,000 pet families in times of crisis!
Human service agencies were designed to deal with humans. And animal welfare agencies were designed to deal with animals. But the reality is humans and animals live together as a family!
The Arizona Pet Project bridges the gap by addressing the human and animal needs of a family in times of crisis.
Pets Are Family
Meet The Barry Family! See our collaborative work in action, and why we think partnerships and collaborations with other agencies (like UMOM New Day Centers) is the cat’s meow!
Statewide Expansion
In 2023, The Arizona Pet Project received American Rescue Plan Act grant funding from the Arizona Governor’s office to embark on statewide expansion, reaching pet owners experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness beyond Maricopa County.
We’ve established relationships with organizations across the state and hired our first social worker outside of Maricopa County in 2023!
Supporting Pima County by placing a social worker in Southern Arizona has enabled The Arizona Pet Project to reach even more pet families in and around Tucson struggling to maintain housing due to unforeseen veterinary and housing costs.
But the work is far from done! With support from compassionate people like you who understand the importance of preserving the human-animal bond, we continue our expansion journeys to regions including but not limited to Yavapai County and Coconino County!
Where Our Social Workers Are Located
With half a dozen social workers, The Arizona Pet Project aims to expand support to as many pet owners as possible across the state of Arizona!
