The 2024 Bob Harvey Award goes to the Interspecies Home Care and Interspecies Team of the Street of Samaritans Foundation in Cali, Colombia.
SCAS and Fostering Compassion created the Bob Harvey Award in memory of Bob Harvey and his little dog Darcie after they faced the trauma of enforced separation or eviction from their care home following a change in management. Prior to this and on their initial move to the home, Bob, his wife and his little dog had been promised they could remain together for the rest of their days.
Bob was ordered to get rid of Darcie and subjected to severe bullying and harassment when he refused. Tracey Streit, Bob’s young friend created a Change.org petition through which SCAS was alerted to his plight. Our Chairman Dr Ormerod visited Bob’s nursing him. She interviewed Bob, residents and staff in the day care centre She also examined Darcie and assessed his behaviour. She thus determined that behavioural issues ascribed to Darcie by the manager were fabricated. The Change.org petition raised some 300,000 signatures from across the globe. Bob’s plight was featured on BBC news and in national press. It led to academic interest and research about pets, older people and housing. And to an awareness in politicians about the impact of no pet policies.
Older people and their companion animals should be kept together wherever feasible. A human animal bond confers many health benefits in later life including companionship, reason to exercise, mitigation of loneliness and depression and brings structure to the day. Yet an Anchor study in 1998 found an estimated 140,000 pets being relinquished annually as older people were forced to surrender them when moving to supported living.
The Bob Harvey Award is for a caring individual, organisation or facility that understands this special bond, and makes exceptional efforts to keep older people and their companion animals together
The 2024 Bob Harvey Award goes to the Interspecies Home Care and Interspecies Team of the Street of Samaritans Foundation in Cali, Colombia
Terry Hurtado nominated the programme. He explained that he was elected to the City Council of Cali as a long-term animal advocate, and in office began to foster that the municipality adopt an interspecies approach in its programmes.
One of these is the Homeless Program. Working with the charity Samaritanos de la Calle he promoted an interspecies approach to supporting homeless people with pets.
The other homeless programs in the country, don’t allow homeless people to enter their facilities companion animals. Samaritanos accepted the challenge to incorporate an interspecies approach in support of homeless people. Several months of staff training were undertaken before the programme was introduced in 2021. It was found that 70% of older people who are homeless in Cali have a companion dog.
Their day care facility for older homeless people was extended to also provide doggy day care and a veterinary surgery.
The Interspecies Team also visits areas distant from the charity’s facilities to give additional support to other homeless dog owners, providing basic medical and veterinary care, and food for both. The programme also provides pet neutering.
Samaritanos de la Calle acknowledges the importance of maintaining the human animal bond for homeless people.
Since 2023 the other facilities run by Samaritanos de la Calle have also operated a pet inclusive policy. Prior to the Interspecies approach older pet owners refused to stay at the facility.
Not allowing non-human companions had been a barrier to the care of homeless people that would have continued without the interspecies team approach.
The programme also provides free veterinary care thus also removing the distress that might be felt by an older person unable to afford veterinary fees.
