Caritas center gives safe haven to pets in need


By JEANNE STARMACK

starmack@vindy.com

NEW CASTLE Pa.

After a struggle to afford rent, Denise Crum lost her house in May. In June, she lost her job.

After spending $1,500 to kennel her two cats for two months because she had no place to keep them, she had to cut back that expense — so it looked as if she might lose the cats, All-Star and Luna, as well.

The Pittsburgh-area woman found a place to stay with a friend. But as she, her 20-year-old son and 23-year-old special-needs daughter struggled with homelessness, it wasn’t so easy to find care for the four-footed family members. No one could take them in.

“I didn’t want to give them up,” said Crum. “My kids have already given up so much.”

Then her daughter’s caseworker at an organization called Familylinks, which offers support to people with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities, told her about Caritas PetCare. Operated by a nonprofit organization called Human Services Center, it opened this year on Princeton Road in Slippery Rock Township, Pa., to offer free pet care to people who are displaced, don’t have the means to board their pets and can’t find anyone else to keep them.

Cats, dogs, ferrets, birds and other small pets can stay at Caritas for up to 30 days while their owners recover from a medical emergency, escape from domestic violence or find another place to stay because they’re suddenly homeless. The kennel is operated with a $10,000 grant from the Banfield Charitable Trust, which provides financial assistance for veterinary care, a pet-food program, pet-care assistance for hospice patients, and grants for programs that address causes of surrenders to animal shelters.

Caritas, about 5 miles southeast of New Castle, Pa., has room for six cats and five dogs, though dogs from the same family could stay together, said Caritas coordinator Jamie Cochran.

All-Star and Luna’s 30-day stay was up Tuesday, but they were still there Wednesday on a 30-day extension. One other pet, a dog named Piper, peered up quizzically from one of the runs.

“I went and got her this morning,” Cochran explained, adding that Piper’s owner had to be hospitalized. Human Services Center, which offers independent and assisted living for mentally ill people, has a personal-care home next to the kennel. Its 11 residents help care for the animals, which is therapy for them, said Cochran.

Mary Beth Weatherby and Dave Lamorella, both of New Castle, said they had to leave their own pets behind when they came to live at HSC.

“I had cats,” said Lamorella, who also takes care of three alpacas on the HSC property.

“I had dogs and a little kitten,” said Weatherby.

They come over every day, they said, to feed the animals, walk them and play with them.

Roger Smith, HSC’s director of community services, said there is no income guideline for boarding pets at Caritas, but the service is generally for people who don’t have the means to keep their animals at a paid kennel.

He said need is determined case by case, and people don’t have to be residents of Lawrence County to use the service. It’s also open to residents of Ohio.

For more information, call 724-658-3578, xt. 502, and ask for Jamie Cochran.