Pets Of The Homeless currently services Victoria only. If you are outside of Victoria, we have compiled a list of services interstate that might be able to assist you.
Individuals Needing Help
Our assistance isn't limited to individuals experiencing homelessness; it also extends to those facing severe financial hardship. To be eligible for assistance, the minimum requirement is that you must be receiving government welfare support.
For assistance with pet food, please take a look here to find community partners organisations distributing pet food on our behalf to locate one nearest to you. No referral is required to access pet food support.
For assistance with veterinary care, emergency boarding or other support for your pet, we ask that you be referred and supported by a social/support worker. Your designated support worker will serve as the liaison between you and our organisation, ensuring that your needs are also addressed within your existing support framework while we provide care for your pet. Currently, our small team does not have the capacity to accept self-referrals.
Who Can Refer Me?
Referrals for our assistance can be made by the following people on your behalf:
- Social worker
- Family violence practitioners
- Community Health Nurse
- AOD counsellor
We are unable to accept referrals from:
- Members of the general public
- Other commercial providers not mentioned above (e.g. GP doctors, financial practitioners, psychologists)
- Unregistered or non-professional practitioners
If you're seeking assistance but do not have any support services in place, here is a list of available resources who might be able to help you.
For assistance with subsidised desexing, please head to our events page for our upcoming Fix-A-Friend community desexing days. No referral is required but you must have a health care or concession card.
Social / Support Workers Wanting To Refer Clients
Pets Of The Homeless is a volunteer-powered organisation with a small team of staff and operates solely on referral basis. We rely on social services and healthcare professionals to refer individuals who are most in need of our assistance.
Our assistance isn't limited to individuals experiencing homelessness; it also extends to those facing severe financial hardship. To be eligible for assistance, the minimum requirement is the individual must be receiving government welfare support. The onus is on you to ensure the individual you are referring to us meets this eligibility requirement.
How Do I Make A Referral?
If your client meets the eligibility criteria defined above, and you are from an eligible referring organisation, then you are welcome to submit a request form for assistance. Please follow the two steps below:
Step 1:
Prior to making a referral, we kindly request that you review our Service Policy to ensure clarity on the extent of our assistance and procedures. Failure to do so may result in delays in our ability to provide help. We can easily identify when our Service Policy has not been reviewed, so we ask that you take the time to thoroughly go through it beforehand.
Step 2:
After reviewing the Service Policy, click the embedded link to access the request form. Please complete the form with all the required information for us to assess your request.
Please note that you must use your official work email address when completing the request form. We do not accept referrals sent from private/free mail services (Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.)
