Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Weise.
Hi Lori, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
While I have always loved animals, I had no aspirations for starting a nonprofit, until I began helping homeless pep[e with pets who lived in the Skid Row /DTLA area. It started with helping one man, Benny Josephs, and his dog Iron Head, and he referred me to a friend who was also homeless and had a dog, and on and on. Until one day, I was known as the Dog Lady, back in the late 1990’s. Downtown Dog Rescue was started, with just a couple of volunteers and myself, who were committed to helping homeless people with pets and reducing the number of unwanted litters of puppies by offering free spay and neuter surgeries.
In the early 2000s, Downtown Dog Rescue partnered with various mobile clinics, which greatly expanded access to spay and neuter for dogs that lived with low-income families in South Central Los Angeles. As the years went by, we began offering more veterinary services than spay and neuter. In 2013, DDR started a program called Shelter Intervention which aimed at preventing people from surrendering their pets to the shelter. Our model spread throughout the nation, and it is still in practice today in many shelters who want to make positive changes in their communities.
During COVID, we opened the Pet Support Space, which is an office inside our thrift store called Clancy’s Closet. PSS has counselors who can meet with families with pets in crisis in person, over the phone, via email or text. In conduction with AlignCare, we offer veterinary vouchers to subside the cost of veterinary care for low-income families with pets, provide pet food and other supplies, and the thrift store for pets trains and hires people who are recently housed, who may not have access to job training, and preparing themselves to re-enter the workforce.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, but it’s been steady. When I started this work, the idea of helping someone who could not afford veterinary care pay for that care and not take their dog away was unheard of. Very few organizations if any were designed specifically to help homeless people with pets. Overcoming people’s ideas that the dog could “have a better life” away from their homeless person was persistent. Therefore, finding funding to do the work was a big challenge. In fact, it still is because we are an evidence-based program that follows a harm reduction model. Not everyone who wants to help animals also wants to help people with pets who may be in active addiction and or have mental illness. We do not require that someone be sober in order to receive our benefits and services. The ability to care for their pet, to have a willingness to allow us to collaborate on their goals for them and their pets is all that we require.
Another ongoing struggle is finding the funding to pay for more and more cases where the pet has an expensive and serious, often life-threatening illness. We have to set boundaries and restrictions, which takes a mental toll on our counselors and volunteers. In order to offer quality care to some, we can’t help everyone.
In terms of storytelling, we could raise a lot more money by taking advantage of the desperate situations we confront on a daily basis. However, we will never exploit a situation to make money. Meaning, even if someone consents to their photo being taken or taking part in a video, and we know that they are mentally incapable of making a good decision, we will not use that on any social media posts. Our participants’ well being, their dignity is our utmost priority. When we do post a case, we always write it from the point of view that if the person who received the care reads it, they will feel ok about it, not ashamed or angry. Our participants are our supporters, our friends, our followers/fans, and an important way to spread the message about what we offer.
Overall, this work tends to attract people who want to rescue people and pets, which is not always healthy. Training people to set boundaries, to allow participants the agency to make their own decisions, even when we believe that decision is detrimental, it’s still their decision. Making one’s own mental and physical health a priority is key. There will always be a new case, a new dog to rescue, someone who needs our help. Taking time to be in nature, to turn off the phone/computer is so important and one of the reasons that DDR has been around since 1996. We always say our work is a marathon. Sometimes we plant the seed, with no expectation of ever seeing the tree grow.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the founder of Downtown Dog Rescue and the president and executive director. I serve in both of those roles as a volunteer. DDR is a nonprofit known for helping people who are unhoused or low-income and have some sort of crisis with their pets. We are really good at listening to the person’s problem, working up a plan, and helping the person achieve their goal, even when there are setbacks, challenges, or the case doesn’t go as planned and needs a complete re-do. We are a creative and flexible group
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
As an individual or company, one can donate to support our work. We are always in need of gently used pet supplies, and close-out pet items that can be given away or sold at our thrift store.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.downtowndogrescue.org
- Instagram: @downtowndogrescue
- Facebook: @downtowndogrescue
- Youtube: Downtown Dog Rescue
