Could Caring for Dogs Help Panhandlers Turn Things Around in San Francisco?

In a city named after the patron saint of animals and once known as the mecca for hope-eyed flower children, San Francisco is taking a radically humane approach to its panhandling and pet overpopulation problems.

Matt Traywick, a formerly homeless man living in housing in the Tenderloin, carries Charlie home after a walk in the city. Photo by Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle.

The program has been dubbed WOOF -- Wonderful Opportunities for Occupants and Fidos -- and it hopes to help eradicate panhandling by pairing formerly homeless people with troubled dogs from shelters who desperately need handling, training, and good old-fashioned affection to help them find new homes. The human participants receive a weekly $50 to $75 stipend to look after the dogs -- and to cease begging for money in the streets.

Sound a little controversial? Hold your howling and hear me out.

Beginning in August, dogs who have demonstrated themselves to be ideal candidates will be placed with formerly homeless people (folks who have housing but can't seem to break their panhandling habit) who also demonstrate the potential to benefit from the program, and who have been screened and trained in caring for dogs. They will foster the dogs until permanent homes can be found for them.

The bichon mix named Charlie gives Traywick a sense of purpose and responsibility. Photo by Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle.

Since coming to live with Traywick, Charlie has become a much happier, healthier dog. Photo by Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle.

WOOF leads us to think: We know dogs are special, and we know dogs can and do change people's lives.

When yours truly first moved to San Francisco, experienced a bad breakup, struggled to find work, and realized how how hard it can be to make new friends, it proved to be quite a challenge. Several times I wanted to pack up all my things and return to Los Angeles. I eventually found part-time work as a dog-walker, and you know what? It was those wagging tails, smiling faces, and dependency on me that helped give me the stable footing to stand on my own here in a truly remarkable city. More than that, the dogs taught me how to accept myself -- even at my worst -- and to keep trying. I'm so grateful for my four-legged clients, and I know they've benefitted from my loving-but-stern hand on their leashes. I've seen wild, jumping puppies become elegant, mature dogs, and I believe the dogs have seen me go from someone alone in a new city to a confident, happy woman.

So, who knows? San Francisco has always been known as a radical location at the vanguard of progress. This cuteness correspondent is taking an optimistic cue from the canines, hoping that WOOF gets people and dogs to help themselves by helping each other.

Via SFGate

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Hero Dog Runs Around With Knife in Head After Foiling Criminals

Bella's unbelievable state of affairs before surgery. (Photo: Miller and Maclean)

If a neighbor called and told you that your dog is “running about in the street with a knife in her head,” what would your first reaction to be? At first, well-known Cape Town, South Africa, artist and musician Vernon Swart said he thought his neighbor was joking. But when he saw cops running around outside, guns drawn, he realized this was no laughing matter.

Neighbors had called police about some trespassers they thought were up to no good, possibly up for a game of robbery or burglary, say police. The trespassers never got into Swart’s home, most likely because his dog, Bella, held them off in the yard. She probably chased them away, say neighbors, and she risked her life doing so.

In the whatever altercation took place, one of the criminals plunged an 8-inch knife into 6-year-old Bella’s skull.

When Swart saw her, “I feared the worst and assumed she was going to die, but incredibly she was running around as if nothing had happened,” said Swart. He swept up his dog, who looked like a unicorn gone terribly wrong, and raced her to the vet’s. He describes a bizarre little scene in his car.

Bella ran around with this knife sticking out of her head after foiling robbers (Photo: Die Burger)

“Bella was on the back seat and every time she turned her head the handle of the knife banged against the window. She obviously couldn’t feel anything as she was acting normally, but it looked horrific,” he said.

The veterinarian who anesthetized her and pulled out the firmly embedded knife – by bracing his knees against Bella’s head and pulling with all his might – said the blade missed her brain by fractions of a centimeter. A few more millimeters, and Bella would have died as soon as the knife hit her brain.

Bella is now resting comfortably at home by the fireplace (it’s chilly there this time of year), wondering why she’s getting special treats and meats, and why people are visiting and fussing over her.

“We’re just so relieved that she’s okay,” said Swart. “She’s been with our family for ages and we’d have been devastated to have lost her.

“I’ve told the police that if they find the guys who did this we’d like to  leave them alone in a room for a few minutes with Bella, and she’d quickly get  her revenge.”

Dogsters, judging by some of your reactions to crimes against dogs I’ve written about in the past, I bet a few of you would love to join Bella in that little meeting with these guys.

Sources: Daily Mail, Die Burger

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The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

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