Shelter Me

– Boomer, where are you, Boy?

– Boomer?

– Sometimes the unthinkable happens.

But with the help of Love Lost and its pet image recognition software, you can upload your pet’s photo to our national database.

It’s open to all.

So whether you lose or find a pet, Love Lost can help reunite families.

At Love Lost we believe pets belong at home with those who love them.

Petco Love Lost.

– I find pets of homeless folks, and I deliver free medical care.

– I’ve been out here all my life, really.

(uplifting music) – All right, you passed.

– See, that’s what keeps us going.

(uplifting music) (people cheering) (uplifting music) (gentle music) – My name is Kwane Stewart.

I’m a veterinarian practicing 25 years.

(gentle music) I started an organization, a 501(c)(3), called Project Street Vet.

(gentle music) The mission for Project Street Vet is simple.

I find pets of the unhoused, these are homeless folks who own pets, and I deliver free medical care.

We’re gonna bounce around Skid Row and we’re gonna see the people and feel the energy, but this is what I do.

I’m just gonna park somewhere and start walking, jump back in the car, drive a little more, park.

And there’s no rhyme or reason, there’s no schedule or calendar to what I do.

As I’m driving or walking, I’ll find someone with a dog and I’ll stop over and ask, “Can I help you?”

It’s that simple.

And if I can give help, I will.

(gentle music) – My name’s Genesis Rendon.

I’m a registered veterinary nurse, and I help Dr.

Kwane with Project Street Vet.

I just think it’s amazing that, you know, they’re in the situation that they’re in, but they still will take a life to feed and to take care of and do whatever it takes to take care of their pet.

My mission in life, ever since I was a kid I said I’m gonna save animals in any way that I can, any animal that you could think of, and I took care of them, strays, took care of them.

And I feel that, you know, they’re innocent creatures that can’t fend for themselves, so I feel like I was put on this Earth to do that for them.

(car door shuts) (dog barks) – She your dog though.

– Yeah.

– [Kwane] She’s yours, okay.

You want me to take a look at her?

– Yeah.

– Okay.

Let me grab some of my gear, all right?

How long have you had her?

– [Greg] About two months.

– [Kwane] You got a lot of energy, girl.

– [Genesis] Yes, she does.

– [Kwane] Do we know how old she is?

– [Greg] No, I think she’s, no, I really don’t.

– [Kwane] Let me take a look in here, okay?

– Good girl, Wednesday.

– Dirty ears, but they’re not infected.

– Dirty ears.

– You’re young, she’s a young adult.

If I had to guess, I’d say about three years old.

Where is she at in regards to vaccines?

– I don’t know.

– Okay.

– That, I don’t know.

– Okay.

You said you just had her a few weeks, right?

– About like two months.

– Oh, two months, you said, okay.

Well, why don’t we vaccinate her?

I’ll bring her up to speed on everything including rabies.

– Okay.

– And I’ll give you a certificate so you have proof of her rabies in case anybody asks, all right?

– All right.

– And I’ll leave you with something for fleas and ticks.

– Okay.

– It’s balance, I know.

Yes, yeah, oh, all right.

All right, all right, all right.

You got a lot of energy.

You have a lot of energy.

All right, we’ll call you.

– (indistinct) dose of rabies.

Here you go, Dr.

Kwane.

– Back down.

– Rabies.

– You ready?

Just gonna do this, this is the rabies.

You don’t feel that huh?

You didn’t feel it?

– Good girl.

– This vaccine is distemper parvo, so.

Parvo is prevalent out here in the streets.

All right, wow.

– Okay, mama.

– Good job.

– You passed.

What’s it like?

How do you manage?

– It’s like, I mean, you just got to be alert all the time and you lose a lot of stuff.

You lose a lot of stuff, people steal a lot of stuff, a lot of confrontations.

Like, like see me, I’m the only person that lives on this street.

I’m the only one person staying on the street.

And they allowed me to stay out here because I was halfway keeping it clean.

But I ain’t been here lately.

So it is getting, I just start cleaning up this morning.

It’s starting to get, kind of messy back here.

– So I just got this jacket.

What do you think of it?

It’s cool.

– Does it look good on me?

– Yeah, it’s cool.

– All right man.

– It’s nice jacket.

– Huh?

– Nice jacket.

– Here, lemme see, I’m gonna have you try it on.

– Yeah?

– Yeah.

– I’ll hold Wednesday.

Come here Wednesday.

– Pretty cool.

Yeah (indistinct).

– [Genesis] Do you like your toy?

– Oh yeah.

– You wear your clothes big, right?

– Pretty much.

– Huh, that look good on you.

– [Genesis] That’s the way to wear it.

– All right, it’s yours, man, you keep that.

– All right, thank you man.

Appreciate it.

I need this.

– That was a blessing and maybe I was in the right place at the right time.

She’s like a kid, being that I helped her and she loves me though, she loves me a lot.

She’s like my daughter.

Hopefully it is going to step up, step up a bit because we got some things.

My girlfriend supposed to be getting her housing, so we might be inside with, you know, we might be inside and they can have pets, so Wednesday gonna come.

And it was cool.

– So I noticed you walking by.

Do you stay in the area?

– Yeah, I stay around, I stay on the next street.

– You stay on the next street?

– Yeah.

– Yeah, it’s funny sometimes my plan is to try and canvas a few square blocks and I don’t get any further than a half a block because 40 feet down the road there’s another dog.

Did you know our friend right here we were just talking to?

– Yes.

– Yeah?

– Yes.

– Did these two get along?

– The dogs, the dogs, no.

– King and Wednesday?

– No, they not for me.

To him this is an appetite.

– This is a toy?

– [Rose] Yep.

– [Kwane] Tell me about King, how old is he?

– King is two months.

He was no bigger than my hand.

And I raised him to where he is now.

I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

– How do you make it out here, how do you do?

How long have you been out here?

– I’ve been out here since all my life really ’cause my mom and dad died down here.

And I had the housing, but when the housing, when the COVID hit, it hit the housing place where I was.

And I, and then I was on probation.

So I went to jail, I did a turn.

And when I got out, I came out to them.

And how I’ve been making it out here is I’ve been surviving and people that I know staying here, staying there and I’m just waiting on my own apartment.

– What’s the hardest part about being out here?

I would think as a woman that you feel unsafe.

– The hardest part being out here is that people think that every woman that’s out here that drinks or on drugs or on anything, have to do anything.

No, you don’t.

All you have to do is pray to God and walk by faith and not by sight and that everything else will fall into place.

– Do you feel unsafe out here?

– Mm-mm.

– No?

– I know that the father is with me so nothing could be against me.

’cause that’s the creator of all.

– Oh, he wants back to you, look, he wants his mom.

I was trying to hold him for a second.

– We never, we’re inseparable.

We stay together.

– Do you want get a… – Yeah.

– Oh see now look what you did.

Look what you did to my assistant.

She’s not gonna be able to work the rest of the day now.

– Yes, I will.

You go hold him, I’m just gonna trim his little back nails.

We learn something every day when we meet pet owners.

And it’s a true teaching for us.

It’s just if you can keep faith and keep going.

He’s so cute.

And he loves you so much.

Look at those kisses.

See that’s what keeps us going is that, and that’s what puts smiles on our face.

(dog barking) – What got the tears rolling this time?

– With King and Rose, I guess her motivation to keep going and her faith in, you know, in God, and you know, what she’s gone through.

You know, her parents passing away and then her going to jail and living in the streets.

You know, her faith in God and and King are just, they have her, they’re going.

And it just, it’s a motivation for me too.

You know, we, you know, I’m fortunate to have a home and, oh, there’s a doggie with a wheelchair.

– [Kwane] Hello?

– Hello.

– I’m a veterinarian.

I just drive by and I help pets on the streets.

Is this your dog?

– Yeah.

– What’s his name?

– Junior.

– He’s Junior?

– Yeah.

– Does he need anything medically?

– Yeah.

– He does?

Okay, I’m a veterinarian.

I’m gonna pull over and I’m gonna come take a look at him, okay?

– Okay.

– Okay, gimme one second.

(gentle music) – Hi Junior, should we get you treats?

The most gratifying part about volunteering with Project Street Vet is being able to give that support that the pet owners need.

Because not all of ’em have the means, as you could see, to go to a veterinary hospital, get vaccines, get flea or tick control, or their cat or dog is sick.

To be able to get that treatment that’s needed.

That’s a good jump, Junior.

– How long have you had him?

How long have you owned him?

– Not me (speaks Spanish).

(Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) (Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) (Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) – Okay, so she was diagnosed with cancer in her uterus about two years ago.

She’s going through treatment, even losing her hair.

So they gave her Junior to support her through the process of fighting cancer.

And she’s still, it’s advancing still, but Junior’s helping her fight cancer.

(Norma speaks Spanish) So Junior’s her therapy dog.

(Genesis speaks Spanish) So he goes with her to her chemo treatments.

– Who got Junior for her?

(Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) – [Genesis] A good friend of hers gave her Junior to help her through this journey.

– [Kwane] How long she had him?

(Genesis and Norma speak Spanish) – About two years with him.

(Norma speaks Spanish) And he just turned three years old.

– Does she believe that he is helping her beat the cancer?

(Genesis and Norma speak Spanish) – Yeah.

(Norma speaks Spanish) She’s just saying that he, when he sees other dogs, he gets excited and gets on his hind legs.

– [Kwane] Has she ever owned a dog before?

(Genesis speaks Spanish) – Junior, yes, it’s her first dog, well, it’s her first dog.

– [Kwane] This is her first dog?

(Genesis speaks Spanish) – Her whole life.

(Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) – She said that when she was younger she saw a movie, it was probably that chihuahua movie in Hollywood that talked.

She told her brother that one day when I grew up, I’m gonna have a chihuahua.

And she said that her dreams came true.

(Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) She said that she’d rather have a dog ’cause they’re more faithful ’cause men aren’t.

She’d rather have a dog in her life versus a man ’cause they’re more supportive.

– [Kwane] But this is her first dog?

– It’s her first dog.

– [Kwane] Oh, so you should have had dogs your whole life, not men, huh?

(Genesis speaks Spanish) (Norma speaks Spanish) I do it because I can do it and because they need it.

And once I figured out that I was that person and I had a passion for it and I was good at it, I haven’t stopped.

Let me listen to his heart maybe?

(Genesis speaks Spanish) – Junior, you gonna let Dr.

Kwane listen to your heart?

– You okay with that?

It’s okay?

(Norma speaks Spanish) All right, I’ll go slow, I’ll go slow.

You know, admittedly, for a long time I probably was that person who looked the other way.

I was too busy with my own life and too caught up with paying bills.

And it’s just what we get caught up in for so long.

And there was just a lightning rod moment one day when I came across an unhoused man with a dog in need.

I offered help, it transformed the dog and in doing so, it transformed me.

And since then I just kept doing the work.

– Seeing them just with that joy of today I have been blessed, you came and helped my animal, is very gratifying.

So with Norma, she said that it was a blessing for her today that we crossed her path.

She’s like, God’s on my side.

I’m like, for us, for us too.

– [Kwane] She seemed like a sweet lady.

What kind of cancer did she have?

– Cancer in her uterus, probably ovarian.

But she says it’s progressing.

– ‘Cause it never gets old when people say that they’re able to get up in the morning or they’re able to fight their cancer or pushing through their day or it keeps them looking for a job.

All because of their pet, all because of a dog.

– [Genesis] Right, yeah.

– I mean, I don’t think we underestimate the power of pet companionship.

– [Genesis] Oh, completely, ’cause I don’t think she would be surviving as much as she is if it weren’t for Junior.

– I don’t know how many cases we’ve seen together, Genesis, but hundreds, hundreds and hundreds.

But I see it play out every time we meet people like Norma.

Why it’s so important that we keep doing this and we keep coming out.

(uplifting music) (people cheering) Yeah, we’re gonna do a clinic with Jacqueline, the Brown Bag Lady.

This is a friend of mine.

She does similar work but on the human side, she feeds the homeless.

And we got in contact months ago and we’re a little bit like kindred spirits in our energy and our passion for helping others.

– All right, all right, how you doing?

Thank you, thank you for your time and your energy.

Miss Annie, what’s up?

How you doing?

– Her clinics are cool.

She does usually the first Sunday of every month.

And it’s sort of on this narrow street that feels more or less like it’s blocked off like a street fair and it’s busy.

(uplifting music) – Did you get everything you need?

– Everything.

– All right.

I guess if you don’t live in LA you think it’s a row.

You think skid row is just a block, a row.

It’s an entire radius of people living in tents, living on the pavement, living on the streets.

And currently there are 69,000 people that are homeless and that’s in Los Angeles County alone.

And it makes me think about one time I had a conversation with a coworker and she’s like, oh, saw what you do, love it, but in the big scheme of things, what is one person really gonna do?

Like, you know, what can one person do?

Well, I like to say, baby, I can show you better than I can tell you.

And as of today, we have fed over 90,000 people.

– Yeah!

– We have fed 90,000 people.

So that means we have fed every homeless person in Los Angeles County.

And I’m fine, you know, with a cold sandwich.

But we always try and give a nice, yes, thank you.

Yes, we try and give a hot, delicious meal.

Chili dogs are going good.

Nachos.

We got plenty of water, right?

Cookies are looking mighty delicious.

We got some potassium, hot coffee, thank you.

And we have all of our brand new clothes from Young LA.

Okay.

Barbers, got tight, all right.

Hi.

– Our hearts may bleed and our hearts may cry, but in our hearts, this wonderful lady.

– [Street person] We got God, we don’t need to worry about anything.

– Amen.

– It’s time to work, Genesis.

– Yes, I’m excited for this.

– Estimates say that about 20 to 25% of our unhoused population own a pet.

And I’d expect to see, you know, a good handful of pets that we can treat.

So it’s great.

And again, the love we have for doing what we’re doing is just an energy between our team and people and the pets.

And it’s gonna be a wonderful day.

– When I first heard about the Street Vet, I started following him on social media and I was like, oh my God, he’s amazing.

And somehow through osmosis, we are now partnering and, you know, everybody who has an animal, vet care is expensive.

The shots, teeth, ears, getting your nails clipped.

And so to be able to have the Street Vet come down and provide all the care for all the homeless pets down here, it is absolutely amazing and such a blessing.

– So we have leashes, we have shampoos, and then the vaccines are on that side and the flea meds.

So I guess if a client needs us for supplies, it’s here.

And then we’ll be doing vaccines over there on that table.

– Okay.

– And medications.

– All right, so all treatment will take place over there.

– Supplies here.

– Supplies and things they need over here.

– Well, the services that we are providing is helping a pet owner keep their cat or their dog healthy.

Because walking into a veterinary hospital is very, very expensive for a pet owner that does have a job, does have means to pay for it.

It happened to me.

My dog had a simple ear infection.

$900 bill just for an ear infection.

So what Dr.

Kwane and I are doing is that we’re giving that service to the pet owners out here that definitely absolutely cannot even walk into a vet exam or a veterinarian ’cause an exam alone could run up to a hundred dollars just to walk in the door.

– Yeah, both ears are inflamed and infected.

We’re gonna treat it to get rid of the infection, to stop the itching.

And once it heals, goes away, just track if it comes back and what may have changed, if anything, that could have precipitated the infection again.

And then let us know.

– We’re providing that treatment for them so that we could take care of ear infections.

If we see a mass on a dog, we could take care of that, dentals, because dentals are very important for dogs and cats.

Flea and tick control, allergies.

So we’re providing that ease for them so that they could keep their pet with them and they could stay happy.

I hear her doing her little noise like, oh, that feels so good.

– The relief.

– Yes.

– Yeah, the relief is happening right now.

– Rolling your eyes back yet, hmm?

Getting the massage from Dr.

Kwane.

– All right.

You better?

Yep, go ahead and shake it.

Shake it on her though.

– No.

Shake it.

– One more time.

Get it, get it.

I love to be able to tell an owner, a pet parent, when they’re doing good by their pet.

I don’t think they hear that enough.

They’re out here and I think they get criticized for owning a pet in the first place, but I don’t think the outside world really understands the sacrifices that some of these folks we met today make for their pet day in, day out.

– It means a lot.

Like it’s a big help because like how he said, you know, we couldn’t have the income to take her the vet, get her treatment.

So now that, you know, he was here, he gave us a big help.

– And then we need to repeat that vaccine in about a month.

– In a month.

– And then you have him scheduled for his neuter already?

– Yeah, because when I had to get some medicine for him.

– Yeah.

– To get dewormed.

– [Kwane] Yeah.

– She told me that she would call me as soon as there is a opening.

– [Kwane] Okay.

– For her and Princess to get – Okay.

– fixed.

– Cool.

– No babies for me.

– No babies for you.

– No.

– No babies for you.

I’m glad you think that way.

It’s so important that we splay and neuter our babies.

Good job.

– Thank you.

– All right, it was good seeing you again.

– Bye, bye, Shadow.

– On a day-to-day basis you and I just simply don’t make those sacrifices for their pets.

And so I think they need to be commended for that.

And especially when they’re doing a good job.

You recognize, you remember me?

– The one and only, thank you, God.

Oh my God, you don’t understand what it feels like to have you guys here with us today.

It, ah, it just takes everything we do to the next level.

And as you know, so many of the unhoused have a dog or a cat and that’s, you know, a lot of times I don’t have to tell you their only communication and their child and their little best friend.

So to have you guys here today, man, I am so grateful for you and I know we’re in LA and you guys are in San Diego, so I truly appreciate and you guys are more than amazing.

Thank you.

– You started all this, we’re only here because of you.

Yeah, this is your street fair honey.

– Right, right.

– But I’m here to steal your thunder today, I’m sorry.

(everyone laughs) – That’s a whole lot of thunder you gotta steal.

But I appreciate you guys.

Hi you guys.

Thank you, thank you so much, I really do appreciate it.

– What are you cooking up over there?

– We got chili dogs and they’re not hot dogs, they’re hot links.

– Oh.

– And we got, we have nachos with cheese and jalapenos and we bought fresh jalapenos and we chopped them up for the chili dogs.

Would you like one?

– Yeah, how about this?

You get me a bowl and I’m gonna give you a vaccine that we’ll trade, okay?

What do you want, do you want rabies?

Come here.

– The most gratifying thing for me today was seeing more people helping us, more volunteers.

Back then it was just Dr.

Kwane and I and it’s tough just two of us, and there’s times where like we would split and like we would look for, you know, patients that needed help, dogs and cats, and then we would meet in the middle.

But now just having a team and we’re giving better care for our patients.

– You guys, this is beautiful.

You guys are rock stars.

– It’s hard to put into words sometimes but the feeling that you get, the energy that other people give you when they’re so grateful for what you’ve done for ’em, it, I mean, you know, it can just power you through a bad day.

It can power you through a bad week or tough moments in your life.

So yeah, they do that for me and I hope that in turn we provide them with something they walk away with and feel a bit better about.

– I think they definitely do, you know?

Feeling that they’re not being judged and we’re just helping them.

It’s very gratifying to them too and it makes ’em feel, you know, happy that there’s people out there wanting to help them and wanting to help their pet so that they can continue, you know, living life.

– You wrap all that up, you put a bow on it, we go home and then we go to bed, we feel better, and we get up and do it again.

(gentle music) – Petco Love Lost.

A national lost and found pet database can help.

Using image recognition technology so every pet can be back where they belong, – Oh my baby – home with the families that love them.

Petco Love Lost.