even though today’s temperature was in the low seventies, as i walked with pearl through our favorite park, my mind was on winter. i’m not a fan of winter despite having lived in new england nearly all my life. and my upcoming homelessness, has caused me to think of what i will do when the cold weather sets in. even though temperatures can stay at reasonable levels even through november, ( this past year it didn’t get very cold at all, even throughout january and february) who knows what the coming winter will bring.
if i was by myself and homeless it wouldn’t really be to difficult to find shelter during the cold winter months. but with my pearl, it is. there are very few shelters which will allow pets. and here in new england there are none.
according to pets of the homeless , anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of homeless people have pets. thats approximately 64,991 homeless people with pets, using figures from hud’s July 2010 5th Homeless Assessment Report.
Pearl’s story:
i rescued my dog from a perilous situation. from the time she was able to be bred, she was kept locked in a basement with virtually no contact with people, and the only contact she had with other dogs was when she was in heat and a male dog would be put in the basement with her to mate. after she had given birth, as soon as she was able to be bred again, she was bred again. this hideous process continued until she was nearly seven years old.
when one day a male dog was put in to mate with her. she finally had enough and as the male mounted her she reached back with her powerful jaws and pulled the animal off of her back and pinned him to the floor by his throat. it took three people to get her to let go of her assailant. she still has scars on her hind quarters and below her right eye from this act of self-protection.
after this incident her owners decided to bring her to a shelter to have her killed. someone found out about this decision and liberated her from her captors.
a short while later, we found each other.
i went to visit some friends who were watching her for a weekend and i fell for her in an instant. a couple of weeks later, she was mine.
a few months later i had my heart attack and she stayed by my side 24 hours a day for the next few months while i recuperated.
that is dedication and love.
which is why i was thinking about winter. i have a couple of choices. i can try my best to find employment and housing before the winter comes. but my attempts at finding employment for the past 6 months has been to no avail. or i can attempt to make my way to a warmer climate before the winter is here. but being homeless in a city i know moderately well is considerably different than being homeless in a completely strange city.
i don’t have to make this decision soon. but i will have to make it.
please consider donating to help me out. i can assure you that i do not do drugs and that i rarely , if ever, drink. any funds received will be used for food, clothing and necessities. i will make note in the blog of all donations received.
i have created a wish list at amazon.com for certain things that will be very helpful for me to have while i am homeless, but which i can not in anyway afford. you can simply select the item that you wish to donate, and it will be sent to me.
by clicking the “wishlist” tab at the top of the blog you will see explanations of why i have placed these items on my wishlist.
my wishlist can be found at the following link: wishlist
thank you
ironwrackdream 