Yvonne Hong couldn’t shake what she was seeing. Week after week, volunteering at a local soup kitchen and working in animal rescue, she encountered the same heartbreaking reality: people living on the streets with dogs by their sides, the bond between them unmistakable, yet no support system existed to help keep them together.
Every encounter left her wanting to offer more than just passing kindness. So she started asking questions. What services were available for people experiencing homelessness who had pets? The answer was stark: virtually nothing. In 2015, Yvonne decided that gap needed to be filled. She founded Pets of the Homeless with a mission that bridges two worlds too often kept separate—human welfare and animal welfare.
In those early days, Yvonne’s operation was beautifully straightforward: she personally distributed pet supplies to people living on the streets. She shared their stories on social media, not knowing how people would respond. The outpouring of support told her everything she needed to know—this work mattered deeply to others too. From this fundamental principle: the deep bond between vulnerable people and their pets should not be broken due to lack of essential pet care resources – Pets of the Homeless was born.
For many experiencing homelessness or hardship, their dog or cat isn’t just a companion—they’re family, emotional support, and sometimes the only constant in an unstable world. By helping these pets, Yvonne realised she was not only saving healthy pets from ending up in shelters facing potential euthanasia, she was also offering a helping hand to their people to regain stability and get back on their feet. Giving them the grace and support they need to find a place they can care for their pets and themselves.
What started with one person and a bag of pet food has grown into something far more comprehensive. By 2016, Pets of the Homeless was formally registered as a charity and began establishing partnerships with community organisations to distribute pet food and supplies. The expansion continued rapidly as Yvonne identified more gaps in care. In 2017, the organisation launched a veterinary care program, creating a network of veterinary partners to offer financial assistance or complete coverage for medical treatments for pets in need.
The following year brought another crucial innovation addressing one of the most painful dilemmas facing people in crisis. Many emergency shelters and housing options don’t accept pets, forcing people to choose between a roof over their head and their beloved companion. In 2018, Pets of the Homeless introduced Emergency Boarding, providing swift short-term kennelling solutions, and the Safe Shelter program, which allows volunteer foster carers to open their homes to pets for up to 12 weeks, giving their guardians the time they need to get back on their feet. With Safe Shelter, they don’t have to make that impossible choice.
In 2019, the organisation proudly opened Victoria’s inaugural Pet Food Bank in Cheltenham. The same year, their first major fundraiser—the Never Tear Them Apart Giving Day campaign—raised an impressive $151,000 within 24 hours, validating just how many people believed in keeping vulnerable individuals and their pets together. Recognition followed Yvonne’s tireless work. She won Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 Award in 2019, was named Westfield Southland’s Local Hero of the Year in 2020, received the City of Kingston’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year award in 2021, and was honoured as both Sunbites Charity Hero and LG Australia’s Local Hero in 2022.
But the metrics that matter most tell a different story—one measured in meals, medical care, and reunited families. The growth of Pets of the Homeless reflects the scale of need Yvonne uncovered. By 2020, the Pet Food Bank had distributed 300,000 pet meals, while the Safe Shelter Program reached its 100th pet. The organisation hired its first employee, transforming from a one-woman operation into a sustainable charity. In 2021, the Pet Food Bank extended support to its 50th community partner and expanded into regional Victoria.
By 2022, Pets of the Homeless had distributed 1 million pet meals and introduced Fix-A-Friend, a subsidised low-cost desexing initiative aimed at enhancing accessibility to affordable preventive care. The momentum hasn’t slowed. In 2023, the organisation was named a finalist in the Melbourne Awards Community category, reached 1.5 million meals distributed to over 65 community partner organisations, and assisted 315 pets through Fix-A-Friend.
By 2024, Pets of the Homeless celebrated 2 million meals distributed, expanded to two delivery vans and grew to six dedicated staff members, while the Safe Shelter program cared for its 500th pet. Two million meals. Five hundred pets safely fostered. Hundreds of desexing procedures. Thousands of veterinary visits funded. Behind each number is a person who didn’t have to surrender their companion, a dog who didn’t end up in a shelter, a bond that remained intact during the hardest of times.
Throughout this remarkable expansion, Yvonne has maintained the core values that inspired her original walks through city streets with bags of dog food: helping without judgment, upholding dignity, maximising impact, and remaining accountable and transparent. These aren’t just words on a website. They’re evident in how Pets of the Homeless operates—recognising that people in crisis deserve support without shame, that their love for their pets is valid and important, and that keeping families together produces better outcomes for everyone involved.
Yvonne Hong saw something that many walked past: people who loved their dogs desperately but lacked the resources to care for them, and a system that forced impossible choices. Rather than accept this as inevitable, she built an alternative. What began with one woman distributing pet supplies by hand has become a lifeline for thousands, moving closer each day to a vision of a community where no pet is removed from a loving owner due to homelessness or disadvantage.
For the vulnerable individuals Yvonne met in those early days at the soup kitchen, and for the thousands who have received help since, she’s proven something profound: that the bond between a person and their dog matters, that it’s worth protecting, and that a community willing to help can ensure no one has to face the cruellest choice of all. In dedicating her life to this work, Yvonne Hong hasn’t just improved the lives of dogs—she’s honoured the unbreakable connection between humans and their most loyal companions, reminding us all that compassion means refusing to force people to choose between survival and love.
See Pets Of The Homeless Website Here
