One of the pleasures of working in the voluntary sector is going to networking events and coming across different organisations, covering different fields. Well you think they are different till you get talking and find out about common issues.
I was talking recently to the Chief Exec of an organisation working with disabled people. Doing the usual what do you do, what do we do stuff we swapped notes. Whilst snares and the welfare issues around the sale of animals in the pet trade were top of my list, the effect of the bedroom tax was top of theirs, given that many of the people they work with are affected by having a second bedroom or what is now deemed spare or extra. Although I have my own personal views on the bedroom tax – or “spare room subsidy” as the Government call it – I did not think there could be a connection to OneKind’s work or philosophy.
I was startled then when being informed that in assessments on entitlement to discretionary payments people with companion animals , cats and dogs, were told well you can afford a pet you don’t need any more money and were in a situation where they were forced to consider losing a pet, or losing much needed income for a room.
People supporting and campaigning on issues around disability have talked in the past about friendship as a key issue amongst disabled people. Often it can be the case that disabled people have few friends or access to friends limited and the most human contact they have are people that are paid to care for or support them.
Equally there are many studies of the value of a having a companion animal on physical and emotional well being. In such relationships cats and dogs get care, support and respect and the act of providing care, support and empathy provides reciprocal well being for the human. An illustration of our HumanKind, AnimalKind, OneKind strapline if you like.
It is an iniquitous system that puts people in a position where they are forced to choose between losing a loved companion, or losing essential money for a room that is not a luxury but for many disabled people a necessity.