Whoops that sounded stupid sorry....

It didn't sound stupid. One of his family members could have bought it for him to know they could keep in contact with him.

I am so sick of this phrase. "What? One individual/group of people did something bad/stupid? Aw, **** man. There goes my hope for ALL of humanity!" Seriously, it's ******* stupid.

You had faith in humanity?!?!??!

I don't have pets because I live on an apartment, but I would get a dog if I became homeless, for company and protection. Living on the streets is hard if you're all alone.

Dogs offer protection, security, and a small measure of happiness to someone who has nothing else. Its a d*ck move to take their animal for no other reason than they are homeless. At the deli I used to manage people would actually buy dog food or hot dogs from us to feed to a homeless man's dog (he was always in our general area) but wouldnt even consider giving him things. He actually ended up getting a job in the strip mall right behind us and wasnt homeless when I left so the story ends well but I cant believe people have more compassion for animals than people sleeping on the street. Also what do you suggest we do with pets we take from homeless people? The SPCA's are mostly always operating at capacity, Id rather have homeless pets with owners than euthanize them en mass.

Another factor here is that a lot of people, particularly younger people or women, on the street are there to escape a violent situation. When you're escaping a violent home and you leave your pets behind, they're 95% likely to end up dead, because someone who beats up a human probably isn't going to shy away from hitting an animal, and they're also going to be pissed off that their punching bag is gone so they're going to want to get revenge on that person's pet. Added to that, many shelters don't allow pets, so if you've left home with your beloved cat or dog who was your only friend and protection in a terrible situation, you may have to make the choice between staying with them or having a bed for the night, and yeah, a lot of people will choose their pet. (As for people who obtain a pet while homeless, often the dog is a stray who they make friends with. Having a pet can actually increase your income if you're begging because people like animals, so both the person and dog benefit from staying together, as well as the HUGE emotional benefit of having a pet - like, actual scientifically documented lowers your blood pressure, reduces depression and stress, etc emotional and medical benefits.)