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The Need Is Greater Than the Numbers Show

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Pet-Inclusive Recovery Is Not an Extra Service—It Is a Missing Pathway

For people experiencing homelessness, housing instability, justice involvement, or substance use challenges, a companion animal may be their most consistent source of safety, connection, responsibility, and emotional support.

Unfortunately, that same bond can become a barrier when shelters, detoxification programs, residential treatment centers, sober-living homes, transportation providers, and housing programs cannot accommodate animals.

When people are told that receiving help requires leaving their animal behind, many face an impossible decision:

Enter treatment or protect the companion who has helped them survive.

Project Recovery and Serenity Paws were created to prevent people from having to make that choice.

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These are estimates, not a direct local count. The local Point-in-Time survey does not fully measure companion-animal ownership, and people living with pets may be especially likely to remain outside formal shelter systems.

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A Population That Does Not “Fit in the Bucket”

During discussions about public funding, Project Recovery has encountered the belief that people with companion animals do not fit neatly within existing homelessness, opioid-response, animal-welfare, or recovery funding categories.

That is precisely the problem.

These individuals exist at the intersection of multiple systems:

HOMELESSNESS 

▼ SUBSTANCE USE

COMPANION-ANIMAL CARE 

 ▼ ▼ JUSTICE INVOLVEMENT

HOUSING ACCESS

RECOVERY

When every system addresses only one part of the crisis, the person and animal can fall through the space between them.

Project Recovery was designed to work within that space.

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Our Local Experience Is Compelling Evidence

A program does not receive more than 145 applications in less than one year because there is no need.

It receives that response because people have encountered a barrier that has gone largely unaddressed.

The applications received by Project Recovery demonstrate:

• People are actively seeking pet-inclusive recovery assistance.

• Existing animal-care capacity is not sufficient.

• Companion animals influence decisions about detoxification, treatment, shelter, and housing.

• People need coordinated support rather than disconnected referrals.

• The demand extends beyond what one grooming and boarding facility can sustainably provide.

• Additional funding, kennel capacity, transportation, veterinary partnerships, and housing options are urgently needed.

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Pets Can Become a Barrier to Shelter and Treatment

Federal guidance recognizes that people with pets often have fewer options for entering shelter together. The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has specifically encouraged communities to:

• Provide indoor or outdoor space for pets.

• Coordinate temporary animal care when shelters cannot accommodate animals.

• Connect pet owners with veterinary services.

• Reduce barriers that keep people from entering shelter and housing.

• Avoid separating people from pets, partners, belongings, and other essential sources of stability.

Research has also found that pet ownership among people experiencing homelessness can be associated with reduced use of shelters, housing services, healthcare, employment assistance, and other support systems—not because the person does not want help, but because available programs may not safely accommodate the animal.

The problem is not the relationship between the person and the animal.

The problem is a service system that often requires that relationship to be broken before help can begin.

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Why Companion Animals Matter

Studies involving people experiencing homelessness describe companion animals as important sources of:

• Emotional support

• Protection and physical safety

• Routine and responsibility

• Motivation to continue living

• Reduced loneliness and social isolation

• Trust and nonjudgmental companionship

• Motivation to reduce harmful behavior

• Stability during trauma, displacement, and recovery

For many participants, the animal is not simply a possession. The animal is family, emotional support, personal security, and sometimes the only relationship that has remained consistent through homelessness, incarceration, trauma, treatment, and relapse.

Removing that relationship without a safe care plan can increase distress, discourage treatment participation, and further isolate the person from available help.

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Homelessness and Substance Use Frequently Overlap

Substance use should never be assumed simply because a person is experiencing homelessness. However, national behavioral-health data confirms that substance use disorders and chronic homelessness frequently overlap.

SAMHSA reports that approximately two-thirds of people experiencing chronic homelessness have a primary substance use disorder or another chronic health condition. This does not mean that two-thirds of every unhoused population—or two-thirds of unhoused pet owners—have a substance use disorder. It demonstrates that behavioral-health and medical needs are highly prevalent among people experiencing chronic homelessness.

For individuals who need detoxification, residential treatment, sober living, court compliance, or recovery support, the lack of a safe plan for their animal can delay or completely prevent entry into care.

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What We Saw in Our Own Community

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More Than 145 Applications in Our First Year

Project Recovery received more than 145 applications in less than one year from people seeking help for themselves and their companion animals.

That level of demand far exceeded our original expectations and exposed a population that is not fully visible in traditional statistics.

Original service projection 1–2 people per month Observed local demand 145+ applications in under one year Available kennel capacity Limited Community need Far greater than current capacity

Our application numbers should not be interpreted as a formal prevalence study. They represent people who found our program, completed or began an application, and were willing or able to ask for help.

They do not include:

• People who never learned about the program

• People without phone or internet access

• People who were afraid to contact a service provider

• People who did not complete an application

• People who needed immediate help when space was unavailable

• People referred elsewhere before entering our system

• People living outside the Colorado Springs area

• People who avoided treatment because they believed no animal-care option existed

For these reasons, we believe published statistics may substantially underestimate the need for companion-animal care within homelessness and recovery systems.

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Why the Numbers Do Not Tell the Entire Story

Traditional data systems count people according to program definitions and available categories. They do not always capture why someone declined shelter, delayed detoxification, left treatment, remained in a vehicle, returned to an unsafe environment, or could not enter sober living.

A person may appear to have “refused services” when the actual choice presented was:

Leave your dog behind, surrender your animal, or remain outside.

That is not a refusal of help. It is evidence that the help offered did not accommodate the person’s actual household and recovery needs.

Our experience suggests that companion-animal barriers are often hidden within broader categories such as:

• Declined services

• Unable to place

• Lack of appropriate bed

• Transportation barrier

• Housing noncompliance

• Treatment not completed

• Lost contact

• Unsheltered by choice

Without asking specifically about animals and creating a safe care option, communities may never see the real reason services were inaccessible.

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The Service Gap

Many organizations provide valuable homelessness, housing, treatment, and recovery services. However, very few programs are equipped to coordinate the full range of support necessary when a participant has a companion animal.

Project Recovery and Serenity Paws help bridge that gap through services that may include:

• Temporary companion-animal boarding

• Vaccinations and health-compliance support

• Spay and neuter assistance

• Veterinary care coordination

• Transportation for participants and animals

• Detoxification and treatment coordination

• Recovery navigation and case management

• Housing and sober-living navigation

• Employment opportunities

• Court and justice-system support

• Emotional-support-animal documentation when appropriate

• Training, handling, and behavior support

• Reunification planning

• Continued support after treatment

This wraparound model protects the animal while allowing the person to pursue treatment, housing, employment, and long-term stability.

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The Human and Animal Outcomes Are Connected

Pet-inclusive recovery is not about choosing animals over people.

It is about recognizing that, for many participants, protecting the human-animal bond is one of the most effective ways to engage the person in care.

When safe companion-animal care is available, a participant may be more able to:

• Enter detoxification

• Complete residential treatment

• Attend court or medical appointments

• Accept temporary housing

• Enter sober living

• Maintain employment

• Participate in case management

• Stabilize the animal’s health

• Reunite safely with the animal

• Build a sustainable recovery plan

Helping the animal can open the door to helping the person.

Helping the person can create lasting safety and stability for the animal.

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The Bottom Line

Based on the 2025 local Point-in-Time Count and published pet-ownership estimates, approximately 105 to 419 people counted during a single night of homelessness in the Pikes Peak region may have had companion animals.

Using the commonly cited 10% estimate would represent approximately 175 people—not including those who were missed by the count, experienced homelessness at another point during the year, were temporarily staying with others, or were unable to seek help.

Project Recovery then received more than 145 applications in less than one year.

These figures do not prove that every applicant was included in the Point-in-Time population or that every person required the same service. They do show that the local need is substantial, measurable, and far greater than our current capacity.

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No one should have to choose between recovery and the companion who helped them survive.

Pet-inclusive care creates a pathway to treatment, housing, employment, accountability, health, and lasting community stability.

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Data Notes and Sources

Pikes Peak Continuum of Care: The Point-in-Time Count is an annual one-night count of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness. The PPCoC conducts an unsheltered count annually.

2025 Local Count: Published local reporting and regional analysis identified 1,745 people experiencing homelessness, including 522 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Pet-Ownership Estimates: Peer-reviewed research has estimated that approximately 6% to 24% of people experiencing homelessness have pets. Veterinary literature frequently cites an estimate near 10%.

Service Barriers: The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness recognizes that people with pets have fewer options for sheltering together and recommends pet accommodation, veterinary referrals, transportation coordination, and temporary placement partnerships.

Project Recovery Data: Application and service figures are based on Project Recovery’s internal program records. They reflect program demand and should not be interpreted as a population-wide prevalence study.