by Anne Rener
As any pet parent knows, animals provide companionship and reduce anxiety. For people in crisis — such as drug addiction or domestic violence — the dependence is magnified. Too often, they will stay in an unhealthy or dangerous situation to keep their pets with them.
That was the situation for William. Drug use eventually led to repeated job losses, alienation from family, and homelessness. He teamed up with Rusty, a shepherd mix, and the two became inseparable. When caseworkers tried to persuade William to enter a treatment facility, he refused because he would not leave Rusty. William ended up dying on the street.
“You have to realize the passion that people have for their animals and what they mean to someone who is lost, confused, and going through a crisis. The only thing they have is that unconditional love from a pet,” said Evan Taylor, executive director of Pause4Paws, Inc. The Tulsa nonprofit provides emergency pet foster care for people who are experiencing homelessness, mental illness, or addiction. Pause4Paws will host its annual Party with Paws Arts District Walk May 3 in downtown Tulsa.
Brittany Crow Cross, manager of the Animal Advocacy Program in Oklahoma City, echoed the extreme devotion she witnesses. The program is a partnership of Palomar Family Justice Center and the Oklahoma Humane Society, and it assists people in domestic-violence situations.
“If the options are to leave pets behind or surrender them to a shelter and risk their euthanasia, those are two bad options, so people won’t choose and instead delay leaving their abuser,” Crow Cross said. “A lot of people just want to focus on the human aspect of domestic violence, but the people aren’t leaving if you don’t include the pet aspect. If you care about getting them to safety, you have to recognize what they care about.”
Animal advocacy as a part of human advocacy received national recognition in December 2024 when CNN named Stephen Knight the Hero of the Year.
Knight, who at age 51 had lost nearly everything to methamphetamine addiction, was newly clean when a friend asked him to take her dog to a shelter when she went into rehabilitation. Knowing that the dog could be euthanized because of overcapacity at the shelter, Knight fostered the dog himself. A few years later, he founded Dogs Matter, a Dallas-based nonprofit that provides foster care for animals during their owners’ addiction recovery.
Ensuring Temporary Homes
In Oklahoma, Pause4Paws and the Animal Advocacy Program share a similar commitment to ensuring temporary care for pets so their people can get much-needed care for themselves.
“We care for the pets so individuals can enter treatment secure in the knowledge that their closest companion is receiving loving care and will be returned to them upon their discharge,” said Cindy Webb, Pause4Paws program director.
Webb credits creation of the nonprofit in 2018 to Katy Inhofe, whose passion grew from her experience as a board member at Mental Health Association Oklahoma. Today, Pause4Paws works in conjunction with a variety of care providers and social-service agencies in Tulsa, including Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital and Housing Solutions Tulsa.
Pause4Paws foster parents provide short-term care, typically 30 to 60 days, aligned to the client’s inpatient treatment plan. Taylor, Webb, and Pause4Paws case manager Jonathan Haring handle pet transports, foster-home visits, delivery of pet supplies, and veterinary visits. Owners must agree to have their pets vaccinated and spayed or neutered to be accepted into the program.
Although the identity of clients and fosters is kept confidential, Pause4Paws will send pet pictures from the foster to the client to provide encouragement during the treatment process. Taylor said the agency fostered almost 160 dogs last year for 140 people, mostly with addiction problems.
Crow Cross drives results for the Animal Advocacy Program. Although most agencies handle only dogs and cats, Crow Cross — as a staff of one — services any type of animal to aid the owner’s safety. Last year, that amounted to 1,155 animals across all services, which span veterinary care, pet pantry assistance, and safety planning. The program fostered 99 animals — dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, baby goats, and leopard geckos (she had to source bloodworms to feed the geckos).
With the volume of people that Palomar serves, the need for animal advocacy is great, Crow Cross said. Palomar will have a new facility as part of Oklahoma City’s MAPS 4 initiative. Until then, space remains at a premium. And although Crow Cross has a network of fosters, only a fraction foster regularly.
“We see animals all across the spectrum from friendly to those with behavioral issues,” she said. “Because the animals have experienced violence, they may be scared of men or have separation anxiety.”
Ready To Reunite
Any reunification is a success. Crow Cross recalled the joy of reuniting a woman with her eight-month-old brindle, Pittie. “He had whole-body wiggles. She then sent me a video after they got to their new home. These are the kinds of moments you live for.”
Webb said a Pause4Paws client was emerging from treatment in Texas to sober living. “Since we don’t provide aftercare services, we connected her to Dogs Matter. One of our transport volunteers met one of theirs halfway between Tulsa and Dallas, and Jasper was on his way to his mom and their new life together.”
To continue their missions, both agencies relish support from the community — namely, foster homes open to bigger dogs and supplies for all animals.
Animal Advocacy welcomes donations of extra-large crates and harnesses as well as volunteers who can help unload food or assist on monthly surgery days.
