Pilot Project for Seniors with Pets

A Northwest startup company, LifePet.Care, has a focus on seniors and their pets. 

The nonprofit pet administration company hails from Vancouver, B.C. with offices in Bellingham, Washington and other locations. Their goal is to spread services across the country for seniors and their pets.

From providing unconditional love and affection to offering a sense of purpose and responsibility, pets can be a source of joy and comfort for older adults. However, as we age, it is important to recognize that we may not always be able to care for our pets. That is why, says LifePet.Care, it is essential for older adults to have contingency plans in place for their pets.

Pet owners want to ensure that their pets will not only be taken care of but will have loving and fulfilling lives even if they are no longer able to provide that love and care themselves. LifePet.Care Trust services are designed to help you plan for your pet's future and ensure they are provided for after you're gone.

One of the most important steps in creating a contingency plan for your pet is to designate a trusted person to care for them in case of an emergency or if you become unable to care for them. Normally, this would be a family member, friend, or neighbor who is willing and able to take on the responsibility of pet care. However, some older adults have outlived many of the people they would trust.

LifePet.Care recently launched a pilot project to help older adults make a pet contingency plan, which includes providing the names of people who can care for their pets if they become incapacitated or pass away. What’s unique about the program is that pet caregivers have to sign off on the responsibility before the pet owner can name them as the contact. The form will also ask about the animal’s behavior towards strangers.

One of the pilot projects, located at a Colorado senior housing community, placed stickers on the doors of tenants with pets. The stickers have a QR code providing details about the pet inside. In part, this allows first responders to know if the residence has a pet that has been deemed unfriendly or aggressive.

In the case of the Colorado pilot project, LifePet.Care has an arrangement with the Animal Welfare Association of Colorado to provide temporary foster homes in cases of emergencies. Robert Greene, Founder of LifePet.Care, said: “Seniors in crisis need to focus on getting better and not having to worry about the care of the pets as foster homes are available.”

However, older adults with aggressive animals will not have access to the foster service as their pets need to be in shelters with professionals who are trained to handle animals with behavioral challenges.

This pilot hopes to help reduce the number of animals going to pet shelters, provide additional safety to emergency first responders and give less worry to older adults who are in crisis knowing that their furry friends are well-cared-for.

“As a proud parent of a rescue pet, I think this program will be helpful to senior housing managers, giving them more guidance on pet care in emergency situations. It will also provide peace of mind for residents that their pets will be properly cared for, in the event that they can no longer care for them,” says Vennita Jenkins, Senior Housing Options CEO.

There are hopes to expand the pilot across the country, but this is challenging as it requires state, local shelters and housing organizations to coordinate the needs of many different types of animals.