TUCSON, Ariz. — Keeping families together with their pets during hard times. Pima Animal Care Center is providing assistance for those wanting to keep their pets.
Five-year-old Roxy and her owner Joe Trejo were both were helped by friends of PACC’s Keeping Families Together program (KFT). The program can house pets that need a place to stay short-term in the event of an emergency.
“With the emergency requiring that I be emitted to the hospital, I had no one to leave Roxy with,” said Trejo.
No family, friends nor neighbors were available to help Trejo and Roxy. He was referred to KFT and once they connected, he says Roxy was able to be put into a foster home immediately.
“I was able to then go to the hospital and take care of my needs with the peace of mind knowing that Roxy was going to be well taken care of,” said Trejo.
Roxy was in a foster home for three days and once Trejo left the hospital, he was able to reunite with Roxy that same evening.
“The experience was an incredible experience. I felt the security that I would’ve her back in my arms and that she would be well taken care of and I would have no worries of where she would be,” said Trejo.
Because Trejo had that peace of mind, what he says, should have been a seven-day hospital stay was only three. A reminder that physical and mental health have a link.
“I felt indebted to the Pima Animal Care Center for the process as quick as it was, as secure as it was. If I had not had the Pima Animal Care Center to care for Roxy and foster her those few days, I don’t know what I would have done,” said Trejo.
Trejo is now paying it forward by regularly volunteering at the center and becoming a foster parent for other pets in need.
For more information about the program and the other services it provides, click here.
