Service for seniors and their pets carrying on despite slow start

Every week, Linda Scott visits Brenda Thompson, a senior who lives alone. It’s partly social, but the real focus is Thompson’s dog, Andrew the Shih Tzu. Scott takes Andrew for long walks — longer than Thompson can while she recovers from a broken arm that she suffered in a fall. Andrew seems to look forward to these walks. He barks excitedly when Scott arrives.

Scott and Thompson were paired up as part of Pet Assistance Linking Support (PALS), a pilot program that sends volunteers to the homes of seniors to help them care for their pets. That can involve walking a dog, emptying a litter box for a cat or other routine duties.

PALS is collaboration between Neighborhood Pets, which provides free and low-cost supplies and services for pet owners in Cleveland and East Cleveland, and Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, which serves aging adults and their caregivers. Signal Cleveland reported on the program, the first of its kind, in May.

Demand for the service has been lower than expected, said Jessica Bibbo, senior research scientist at Benjamin Rose, in a recent interview. There have been just two matches with volunteers. They attribute that in part to some bureaucratic and scheduling hurdles that they’re working to smooth out. Benjamin Rose is also going to expand eligibility from clients receiving home meal deliveries.

People may also just be reluctant to let a stranger into their home, Bibbo said. They’re exploring the possibility of bringing the program to an assisted living facility, where visits from staff and other aides are common.

“In my opinion, the partnerships have been the biggest success of the program,” Bibbo said. Benjamin Rose participated in Neighborhood Pets’ community health fair (for humans) in June, and hopes to join the other service agencies who visit there regularly to reach new clients. Almost half of the people Neighborhood Pets serves are seniors.

That will help build trust, said Becca Britton, executive director of Neighborhood Pets.

“We will be talking with people that we already have relationships with, so we understand their life a little bit,” Britton said. “And once we have some clients signed up, and we have their testimonials and good experiences, that’s when other people will sign up too.”

The slow roll-out isn’t due to lack of need, Britton said. She described another PALS client, a disabled man in his 80s who lives alone with a cat that he obviously adores.

“You could tell he was lonely. He was so happy to have us over, and he loved talking about his cat,” she said. He’s now receiving monthly deliveries of cat food and treats, and Neighborhood Pets is arranging more visits to check on the cat’s health.

“His cat is really all he has,” she said. “That’s a perfect example of the impact.”