Nonprofit provides veterinary care for pets of the homeless in winter | News

The Brief

• The Street Dog Coalition partners with Underdog to provide free monthly veterinary care for pets belonging to homeless or people going through financial hardship

• Many shelters accept families but won’t take pets, forcing people to choose between housing and their animals

• Volunteers say demand has grown so much they sometimes have to turn people away due to limited time and resources

MADISON, Wis. — Winter adds an extra burden for homeless people, and there are resources for unhoused individuals, but many are forced to surrender their pets when it’s cold outside.

A nonprofit is making sure everyone can care for their pets no matter the weather.

Volunteers see growing need

Cold winter weather has an impact on everyone and everything, including the pets of people experiencing homelessness.

Donna Spangler volunteers for the Street Dog Coalition in Madison and said seeing homeless people and pets outside in winter weather is heartbreaking.

“Yeah, it’s always sad, you know, to see people outside in any temperature. But the bitter cold, it, you know, that they’re hurting and that they’re cold,” Spangler said.

Free veterinary care fills gap

That’s one of the reasons why Underdog partnered with the Street Dog Coalition. Once a month, they provide free veterinary care for pets that belong to people who are homeless or dealing with financial burdens.

“I was surprised at the number of homeless people or people living in their cars with pets, and they just expressed the fact that they wouldn’t be able to have any of that work done to their animals if it wasn’t for the Street Dog Coalition,” Spangler said.

Lauren Brinkman, who owns Underdog, said pets are essential family members for these individuals.

“Oh, if you can’t afford a pet, you shouldn’t have a pet. But these pets are integral to these individuals’ lives. Everyone deserves to have their family member to stay with them and to be able to care for them,” Brinkman said.

Shelter policies force difficult choices

Organizers said services like this are important because many shelters will take in families but won’t accept pets, even during cold weather.

“We’ve talked to people who are living in their cars because in Madison there’s not, there’s no shelters that allow people to have their pets. So people are living in their cars and elsewhere to be able to” keep their animals, Brinkman said.

Demand outpaces capacity

Lately, the coalition has had so many clients that they need to turn people away due to limited resources.

“It’s definitely grown over the years. We’ve started with just a few, a few clients, you know,” Spangler said.

“At times we’re turning people away, because we only have a four-hour chunk of time that we can help. Everyone here is a volunteer,” Brinkman said.

Comprehensive preventative care

As winter weather continues to impact people and their pets, volunteers want pet owners to know that help is available for preventative care and vaccines.

“If you can come here and just do preventative care with your pets, we can do flea tick preventative, heartworm preventative, all the things to keep them healthy. Then, when something does come up, it’s going to be easier to fix,” a volunteer said.

How to help or get services

The next free clinic will be held in February. People can access services, volunteer opportunities, or make donations through Underdog’s website.

​COPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.