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A recent Facebook post from Minnesota-based animal rescue The Bond Between draws attention to an issue that is becoming increasingly common: amidst the surge in detentions and deportations, beloved family pets are being left without anyone to care for them.
Chapo’s Story
The post introduces Chapo, a roughly one-year-old Cane Corso whose dad was recently deported by ICE. We only know Chapo’s story because a friend of Chapo’s father was able to provide short-term care for him, eventually getting him situated in a foster home with the assistance of The Bond Between. Rachel Mairose, executive director of The Bond Between, said in an interview with MPR that Chapo’s case is one of many similar cases.
‘We’re seeing more and more cases every day, unfortunately. The silver lining is that community really does seem to be stepping up for these animals and for the people that have had their rights stripped away from them.’
The Bond Between’s Response
The Bond Between has responded to this situation by organizing several assistance programs. These programs include respite foster (placing pets in temporary foster homes while their pet parent is detained, in an effort to reunite people and their pets whenever possible), a surrender program (where they work to find new adopters for pets in instances where reunification is not possible), and emergency pet food assistance (to provide free pet food to those who are facing lost wages or financial strain as a result of ICE activity.) In addition to these programs, they urge and instruct people to create preparedness plans. They outline the importance of having trusted caregivers, care instructions, and identification details prepared to ensure your pet’s safety in the event of an unexpected detention and/or deportation.
The Bond Between‘s response outlines the importance of planning and community support. But even so, Chapo and his dad (along with several other pets and their parents) will likely never reunite- their story is just one testament to the profuse suffering, not limited to our human neighbors, that ICE, DHS, CBP, and all of their various counterparts and cohorts inflict within our communities.
