Read the full article by Keyshawn Davis at Sacramento News & Review
Seven months ago, Joseph Rival drove to California from Oregon with his mother, who’d recently had a stroke, because she wanted to see the Pacific Ocean at stops along the West Coast. In a series of unfortunate events, their car broke down at a truck stop and shortly after they became homeless after exhausting all of their expenses.
Desperate for help, Rival said he started calling social services everywhere he could. At one point, they were dropped off at an emergency room, and then eventually taken to a homeless shelter in Sacramento. Rival said he and his mom had never seen a shelter before. Also unhoused with them was Rival’s dog Daggs, short for Daggers.
Daggs is a 2-year-old mut — part pit bull, labrador and husky — who lives with Rival at the Safe Stay Homeless Community shelter on Florin Road.
Rival, who had exhausted all of his expenses, hadn’t been able to properly care for Daggs until he got to the Safe Stay shelter, which offers a mobile vet clinic, called PAWS Clinic, that travels to different homeless areas to provide free pet care.