0:00

And he would get so mad he he would like rip a door off a wall or

0:00

or do something that would scare people.

0:07

But if he had his dog, he would sit down with the dog.

0:07

He, you know, his counselor, went over and over this with him.

0:13

And this was before people started using comfort dogs

0:13

and dogs to the effect that they're using them now.

0:19

And he would sit down and just stroke the dog. and the dog would just sit there

0:20

and he'd just go from this wild guy

0:25

that people were afraid to even be on the same side of the street

0:25

to just a very calm, peaceful person.

0:32

It was amazing. Amazing to watch.

0:46

Hello and welcome to Give a Dog a Bone.

0:49

I'm Genevieve Frederick,

0:49

the Founder of Feeding Pets of the Homeless.

0:53

Find out more about our mission and the animals we've helped.

0:58

Hear the stories of insiders, volunteers and leaders

1:02

about why we do what we do

1:02

and how you can make a difference.

1:07

It's all here on Give a dog a bone. I am here with a very special guest today,

1:07

Senior Judge John Tatro.

1:19

He was a justice of the peace in the Municipal Court

1:19

Judge in Carson City.

1:33

And he began his career as a hearing officer for the Nevada State Gaming Control Board.

1:42

So John, you're here today as an official.

1:48

But on the on the unofficial side,

1:48

you were also a judge at a couple of the

1:52

Cutest Dogs of Carson City, Nevada.

2:01

You want to tell us a little bit about that experience?

2:04

Well, thank you for having me, Genevieve.

2:09

I've judged murder cases and burglaries and robberies

2:09

and things like that.

2:14

But the dog contest was right up at the top for stress.

2:19

That was that was a scary thing.

2:21

People who own dogs think their dog

2:21

are the cutest dogs there are.

2:25

And and if you don't agree with them,

2:25

then you've got some problems.

2:33

But those, those two times that we

2:33

did those contests, it was so fun.

2:38

And you're absolutely right. Everybody thinks their dog is the most adorable.

2:44

And it was hard to pick. So John actually ended up getting a category for almost every dog.

2:53

That was fair. So it was the cutest male dog,

2:57

the cutest female dog, the cutest costumed dog.

2:57

But he went through all these categories and it was hysterical.

3:05

It was. It was very.

3:05

It was fun and it was lighthearted.

3:10

I know that in your courtroom

3:10

you have dealt with homeless people.

3:15

And I wanted to let our listeners know

3:15

that a lot of the people that we talk to on a daily

3:23

basis are experiencing homelessness.

3:23

And it's not a choice that they had.

3:30

It is for economic reasons, its circumstances.

3:30

It's personal family issues, health issues.

3:39

It could be a national disaster.

3:39

There are so many reasons why people become homeless,

3:45

and I know that you've had some of them in your courtroom.

3:49

Do you have any specific stories or something

3:49

you want to tell our listeners about the issue?

3:57

And if any of those had a pet,

4:01

Well, lots had pets and

4:01

and that's something that we deal with in court.

4:05

They still deal with every day. I mean, I still am a judge and I don't work as much as I did.

4:07

But every day that I do work, you deal with homeless people

4:15

and a lot of the homeless people have pets.

4:15

And when they get arrested, usually

4:22

their biggest and go to jail, usually their biggest concern is,

4:22

Oh my God, my cat or , you know,

4:28

is in my car or down by my tent

4:28

or my dog is with a friend.

4:35

I don't know how long he's going to be able to keep them.

4:38

I mean, they're always concerned about their dogs,

4:38

and that's always a big issue in the court because

4:45

you just know that it's something

4:45

that's extremely important to them .

4:50

Yeah, that that dog or cat

4:50

was probably the only thing they had

4:56

to give them any kind of comfort during that.

5:00

You know, when you're homeless, you're so isolated

5:00

and having that animal

5:05

is so important to these folks and we get calls

5:05

saying I just got out of jail.

5:13

I'm homeless. The animal control people have my pet.

5:15

I need to get my pet back.

5:21

Well, it's you know,

5:21

that's not something that is our mission t

5:26

to help people get their pets back

5:26

once they've been in the system.

5:30

And sometimes those animals have been rehomed by then.

5:34

If they're elderly or if they're ill,

5:34

they may have been euthanized.

5:38

So, you know, we can't go down that road.

5:38

We have enough to handle treating emergency veterinary care.

5:45

For men, women, our veterans.

5:50

Those situations are so vast that it blows my mind some time.

5:57

And when their animals are injured or ill,

5:57

the anguish that we hear is heartbreaking

6:04

because their dogs been hit by a car

6:04

or their dog has been stabbed

6:09

or their dog has been shot.

6:09

We've had instances where the police have come in

6:16

to break up a homeless camp and the dog

6:16

is protecting his owner and lunges at that police officer

6:24

and the police officer has, you know, he has to protect herself.

6:28

So you have these things happen,

6:28

but we treat all of those animals,

6:33

whatever their illness, whatever their injury is.

6:38

I know you have a dog.

6:38

Tell us about your dog.

6:42

Well, my dog is Walter. He's an English bulldog, and he's he's a great dog.

6:44

He slobbers everywhere.

6:53

People sometimes are kind of put off by bulldogs because they're

6:53

only a mother can love is what people say about them.

6:59

But we think he's the cutest dog

6:59

that's ever been just like the people in the in the contest.

7:05

And he's our our second bulldog. He's a great dog.

7:05

He loves the grandkids. He's good with the kids.

7:15

His is fun, slobbers all over the kids.

7:22

Would you say that most of the cases that come through your court?

7:31

The homeless people, you know, what kind of a category would you put them in?

7:36

Is it drugs? Is it mental?

7:36

Is it circumstantial?

7:40

Do they tell you how they ended up homeless before

7:40

they've been arrested for whatever the crime might be?

7:49

Yeah, you know, we deal every single day.

7:52

We have homeless people in court

7:52

and, I mean, usually without fail.

7:57

Well, at least four days a week,

7:57

we'll deal with homeless people.

8:01

And typically, what we see

8:01

because some criminal act has been involved.

8:07

Typically, it's drugs,

8:07

serious drugs and alcohol addiction

8:13

or, and or mental health issues,

8:17

those are those are what we see and as far as how

8:17

they became homeless, sometimes we go down that path, you know,

8:24

by the time we get them, they've usually been.

8:24

They didn't just become homeless.

8:30

They've been there a while, and so it's it's hard

8:30

to kind of peel the onion to get back to how it all started.

8:37

But, usually it's, what we see is because

8:37

of drugs, alcohol and mental health issues.

8:45

And many times it's all of them in one.

8:48

Right. I know here in our small town

8:49

you were instrumental in getting some programs started.

8:59

You want to tell us a little bit about those kinds of programs

8:59

and it's because of what you saw in your courtroom.

9:05

Right? So in 2005, I had been on the bench for ten years,

9:06

and you can see the mental health

9:14

issues were becoming more and more predominant.

9:14

More and more we see them in court more and more often.

9:22

And it just kept happening, in SF and nationally

9:22

there were mental health courts popping out.

9:27

The first one, I think, was in Florida

9:27

and the second one was in Seattle.

9:32

And we were kind of watching those

9:32

and seeing how they worked.

9:36

And so in 2005,

9:36

we we opened one here in Carson City

9:42

and it's still going today

9:44

It is probably the most rewarding thing as a judge that I did.

9:48

And every once in a while,

9:48

I still get to go sit in mental health court.

9:52

I mean, it's a thing where you see somebody come in

9:52

and they're ill, extremely ill, mentally ill, and you can help them.

9:59

You can get them back on their medication,

9:59

you can get them in counseling, you can get them housing

10:04

and you watch this, you know,

10:04

you watch them progress and it's just a great thing to see.

10:09

We'll have their families come into court and,

10:09

you know, be cheering and happy.

10:14

And we hear stories about how mom had to go in her bedroom

10:14

and had a deadbolt on the bedroom door

10:20

because she was afraid

10:20

her son, who's mentally ill , would come in and and do something.

10:25

And and all that kind of goes away,

10:25

at least while they're in mental health court.

10:28

You don't you don't cure somebody who's mentally ill,

10:28

but you give them the tools

10:34

to help them deal with it and take their medications

10:34

and live a normal, productive life.

10:40

It's it was a it's the greatest thing

10:40

I felt as a judge that I could have done or I did.

10:49

So you should be proud and we're proud of you as well.

10:53

I mean, that is something that you know,

10:53

more communities should take a hard look at.

11:00

Homelessness is rampant across the country

11:00

and with evictions, I'm I'm sure your courts

11:09

are going to see a lot of those kinds of things happening.

11:13

And it just puts that extra stress on these people

11:13

that may have borderline mental issues

11:20

To be evicted, that self-esteem and the whole,

11:20

you know, it's just this cycle that

11:29

It's so hard to get out of once you get into homelessness,

11:33

unless you have a family, a good support group

11:33

behind you or an organization that can help you.

11:41

I know just helping these pets of these homeless people.

11:41

They have told us that we have given them hope

11:50

That they are, that there's somebody

11:50

and there are groups out there that can help them.

11:56

So sometimes it's just a matter of them reaching out

11:56

and asking for that help.

12:02

I know for our veterans,

12:02

that's probably one of the hardest to do is to reach out.

12:09

These men and women have been trained

12:09

to be self-sufficient, independent and, you know, be a team.

12:17

And then all of a sudden they find their self in homelessness

12:17

and they're embarrassed.

12:22

Number one, they they they are afraid to reach out.

12:26

We just started working with the VA on a program

12:26

where they are housing

12:32

chronically homeless that can live independently

12:32

and as long as they are working

12:39

with a case manager within the V.A.,

12:42

we will help their pets if they're injured or ill or they need

12:42

whatever they need .

12:48

The social workers that we have talked to

12:48

that are working with these veterans are so relieved that now

12:56

there is somebody out here

12:56

that can help them when their pet is injured or ill.

13:01

So that's a program that started out as a pilot program.

13:01

It's now a legitimate program that we're doing.

13:09

So I'm hoping some of our listeners that may know

13:09

a veteran that is homeless, that needs help.

13:15

That is a call that they should make.

13:15

And if they have a pet, of course we'll help them.

13:22

So John, what what else can you tell us?

13:25

Well, I think I think like I said, though,

13:25

I think homelessness relates to from from what I see and I know there are lots of other reasons,

13:33

but from what we see in court

13:33

and from the criminal justice system,

13:37

it relates to drugs and alcohol

13:37

and it relates to mental health issues.

13:42

And I just think the focus could kind of shift some

13:42

and, and we could do a lot of good.

13:49

I know that like right here in Carson City, you can drive down

13:49

Main Street and I can point and show you people

13:55

that have been in and out of jail literally 40 times

13:55

and it's all relating to they get drunk and they do.

14:02

I mean, like drunk, like crazy drunk, and they end up in jail.

14:02

I just think more can be done to reach out and help them.

14:10

And in Carson City, we're starting to do that.

14:12

Like the sheriff, not starting, we have been,

14:12

the sheriff has the MOST team.

14:18

It's an acronym that I can never remember what it stands for,

14:18

but it is a mental health worker, a counselor.

14:24

Actually, Becca Bock is assigned full time to the MOST team.

14:28

And she goes out with a deputy.

14:28

Don Gibson is a very experienced deputy.

14:33

And if they get a call like to to to somebody

14:33

that's homeless or to somebody that has a mental health issue,

14:38

they go out and they try to get them services and get them,

14:38

you know, get them something they need.

14:42

And lots of times these people have pets.

14:45

And then Becca and Don Gibson will help take care of the pants

14:45

or find somebody that they're not going to take the pets home.

14:51

But they're going to try to help out and try to find a program

14:51

or something that can help them keep their pets.

14:57

There was a mental health court case.

14:59

There was this great big guy,

14:59

and he was a big, scary dude and he had a dog.

15:04

He would get so frustrated and so angry about things

15:08

that didn't really make sense to us, but to him,

15:08

it made all the sense in the world and he would get so mad.

15:14

He he would like rip a door off a wall or

15:14

do something that would scare people.

15:20

But if he had his dog, he would sit down with the dog.

15:24

He, you know, his counselor, went over and over this with him,

15:24

and this was before

15:28

people started using comfort dogs and dogs to the effects

15:28

they're using him now.

15:32

And he would sit down and just stroke. The dog and the dog

15:32

would just sit there and he'd just go from this wild guy

15:39

that people were afraid to even be on the same side of the street

15:39

to just a very calm, peaceful person.

15:46

It was amazing. Amazing to watch.

15:48

Yeah, they offer so much comfort.

15:51

It truly is amazing. I think reaching out instead of waiting until we get the call,

15:53

you know that they've just broken windows

16:03

or they've done whatever they've done that's a crime that they're going to get arrested on. And we started reaching out having the ability,

16:04

like the most team to go out and talk to people

16:10

to prevent the arrest, to try to get them help

16:10

try to channel them into a program.

16:16

I think we could.

16:16

And that's what I think we're starting to see more and more of.

16:21

And I think we have to

16:21

I mean, look at the homeless number in the Bay Area or L.A.

16:26

or across the country. We're seeing it and we get calls from every state. I think we're now in.

16:28

We've helped people in 650 different cities across the country.

16:41

And you know, we, we verify homelessness and

16:41

sometimes that kind of makes things slow down a little bit

16:48

because we can't find that person at the homeless shelter

16:48

or a social worker. Or maybe it's even a manager at a food bank

16:59

that can say, Yeah, this person really is homeless.

16:59

They're living in their car. I know it.

17:04

We get calls from police officers

17:04

from across the country that will call and say,

17:09

You know, we've got this guy on my beat

17:09

and his dog is really sick.

17:13

Can you help them? And they'll actually take the dog

17:15

and the homeless person to the hospital

17:20

so the dog can get treated

17:20

and just word of mouth, getting out there.

17:25

That will help these kinds of situations when

17:25

the the dogs and the cats, so many times homeless people

17:32

will not go to get medical treatment because they have no place

17:32

to leave their dog or their cat, and they get sicker and sicker.

17:42

And we know that homeless people are more susceptible

17:42

to all kinds of illnesses because they're out and about.

17:50

So, you know, that's that's something that I'm hoping

17:50

that this message will go out to communities

17:59

and somebody in that community will go,

17:59

Hey , I could help do this.

18:05

Maybe,you know, they contact the sheriff

18:05

or the police department, and say

18:10

next time you arrest somebody that has a dog that's homeless

18:10

and instead of taking it to here, I'll try to foster this dog.

18:18

There's all kinds of ways that this could happen, but

18:18

it sure would help bring down the stress level of the people

18:26

that have to go to the hospital

18:26

or have to go to jail or have to appear in court.

18:31

So, yeah, we always ask social workers in their office

18:31

to allow those animals in the office. Have a crate there.

18:40

Because that person's going to be a lot calmer

18:40

if that dog is right there

18:45

That they know their dogs are safe

18:45

and they can pet it and talk to it.

18:50

We encourage social workers that are working with the homeless.

18:54

If there's an animal involved,

18:54

please let them join in that meeting

18:59

when you are trying to give that person the help

18:59

that they need to get out of homelessness. So.

19:07

Well, John, this has been such a delight.

19:10

I am so happy and pleased that you were able to take

19:10

some time out of your busy day to talk to us.

19:18

Well, thank you, Genevieve. It's my pleasure. And you do God's work.

19:21

So I think this is a great, a great thing. Thank you.

19:24

Thank you, John. Take care.

19:26

Be sure to listen to our next podcast

19:26

to learn more about the work

19:31

we do to help pets of homeless across the country.

19:35

Bye now. You've been listening to Give a Dog a Bone

19:47

brought to you by Feeding Pets of the Homeless

19:47

if you enjoyed the show.

19:52

Help us by leaving us a five star review.

19:55

It really helps new listeners find the show.

19:58

If you'd like to connect with us, you can find us on social media

20:03

and the web at petsofthehomeless.org.

20:07

I've been your host, Genevieve, until next time.

20:10

Thanks for listening!