In collaboration with multiple nonprofit agencies, the City of San Diego hosted a veterinary care clinic at the Safe Sleeping Program to ensure program participants’ furry companions are healthy, have plenty of food, leashes or collars, and, of course, toys.

The event included Project Street Vet providing onsite evaluations and vaccinations, SNAP (Spay Neuter Action Project) performing surgeries, and The Animal Pad. Safe Sleeping operator Dreams for Change also helped organize last Tuesday’s event at the O Lot site, as providing support for individuals experiencing homelessness also includes their pets.

Project Street Vet co-founder and president Dr. Kwane Stewart, named CNN’s Hero of the Year for his work with those experiencing homelessness, said veterinary events like this are critical.

“Over the years I’ve realized how vitally important these pets are to these folks – for a lot of reasons – for protection, for support, for love, for mental health,” said Stewart. “Whatever I can do to help keep them together – it just goes a long way.”

SNAP provided no-cost spay and neutering services for all program participants’ pets.

“We wanted to go somewhere we could make the most impact,” said Dorell Sackett, executive director of SNAP. “We fix them (participants’ pets), we vaccinate them and we microchip them – they get their nails trimmed, they get all their medications.

The Safe Sleeping program is a low-barrier sheltering option providing individuals or couples tents with cots; meals; transportation; and housing navigation and other supportive services across the two sites located on City property near Balboa Park. Participants are also welcome to bring their pets. The program expanded earlier this year, the increase brings the total capacity to approximately 760 tents.