Poverty's Pets

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Poverty's Pets Poverty's Pets supports under-served communities with a focus on spay/neuter & community education.

Poverty’s Pets was incorporated in 2005 under the direction of the Founder and Animal Advocate, Kate Sivolella and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. With a mission of aiding abandoned, neglected, and abused companion animals in low-income and underserved communities, Poverty’s Pets also provides education programs and veterinary care services (including spay/neuter) to families in the low-income areas of Phoenix, AZ. In addition to these initiatives, Poverty’s Pets partners with local schools to educate students on the respect and welfare for all beings, and to promote positive interactions between the dogs and students. Since 2008, Poverty’s Pets has facilitated the adoption of over 1000 animals, provides medical services (including spay and neuter) to over 800 each year. With a compassionate volunteer network, it is Poverty’s Pets goal to end animal cruelty, suffering, overpopulation and homelessness.

A few months ago, a gentleman knocked on the door where we host our community spay and neuter clinics. He owns an asphal...
10/13/2026

A few months ago, a gentleman knocked on the door where we host our community spay and neuter clinics. He owns an asphalt company down the street and explained that the feral cats on his property keep having kittens.

The cats are welcome to stay, and he feeds them. But their numbers keep growing, and he was reaching out for help with spay and neuter.

With a list a mile long of people needing help, we kept his card and added him to it. Last week, we finally started chipping away at the need on his property.

His story is one we hear over and over. People are willing to care for these cats, but finding accessible spay and neuter services is another story. While they wait, more kittens are born, and the need grows, and the suffering continues.

Poverty’s Pets spent more than a decade advocating for change to Phoenix’s anti-tethering ordinance. We kept showing up because of the suffering we witnessed in our community. This year, that persistence helped bring change.

Perhaps it’s time to bring that same persistence to the feral cat issue and the lack of services available to address it.

Feral cats are a rampant community issue, putting a strain on underserved neighborhoods and the people doing their best to care for them. We believe the City of Phoenix needs to fund accessible feral cat spay and neuter services. Community members and small organizations cannot keep carrying this burden on their own.

People will understandably ask, “What can we do?” The truth is, this issue has Poverty’s Pets stumped as well. We have resources, but they are so limited, and we are overwhelmed by the need. We don’t have all the answers, but we know our community needs a funded service it can turn to. Perhaps our next advocacy focus needs to be making that happen.


We are pretty proud of this little man. Gordy came to us in January. He was forever on guard, quick to growl, and would ...
10/09/2026

We are pretty proud of this little man. Gordy came to us in January. He was forever on guard, quick to growl, and would occasionally nip at ankles. Often, he would tremble in fear, just as he did when we humanely trapped him.

As the months passed, Gordy began to trust those around him. In fact, it was safe to say he loved the volunteers and became a total lap dog.

For the last few months, Gordy has been in Tucson under the care of The Dog Tribe Co.. His days are a lot different than when he was with us. Now, Gordy is being challenged, working for treats, gaining confidence, and trusting humans while embracing new surroundings. He is transitioning from survival mode to living mode. As his trainer says, “He is starting to lean in.”

But Gordy is also plateauing at board and train, and his next step is a forever home or foster. Rachel, his trainer, tells us she is very optimistic about someone coming in to meet him now:

“Gordy is loose and wiggly, excited for treats. Will work and engage for anyone who is confident. Touch is the issue. He takes his time there. But he is cooperative and confident otherwise.”

While in our care, Gordy was extremely affectionate and the ultimate lap dog. But we knew his confidence had been stolen from him at some point, and now he has it in his grasp. He needs his person more than ever.

Please consider Gordy. He can be a pal to a dog-social dog, and his fear of men is nearly in the rearview mirror. Gordy is not a cat guy, but that is okay. He has so much love to give.

Placing four kittens in a dumpster is an act of animal cruelty coupled with a lack of education...and compassion. The fe...
10/07/2026

Placing four kittens in a dumpster is an act of animal cruelty coupled with a lack of education...and compassion. The feral cat issue in Phoenix’s underserved communities is rampant. Poverty’s Pets gets slammed with requests for TNR, unwanted kittnes or injured cats. The list is long and never ending. And quite frankly, access to services seems to depend on “who you know” rather than being at your fingertips.

Kittens are placed in dumpsters more often than one can bear to comprehend. These babies are safe now, thanks to our volunteers and networking with Heidi's Village, who supplied us with options that led us to Two Hearts Kitten Rescue.

It has been a busy week for these kittens, and it has ended much better than it started. Thank you, Two Hearts for helping these babies when they needed it most.


For over a decade, we have placed numerous calls to the Arizona Humane Society about this house of horrors. Our most rec...
10/05/2026

For over a decade, we have placed numerous calls to the Arizona Humane Society about this house of horrors. Our most recent call, which we posted about, was back in January. At that time, AHS confirmed a long history of calls about the property, not just Poverty's Pets.

The truth is, the property torments the surrounding homes with the never-ending cries of puppies. Over the years, we have scooped up many dogs in the alley who have escaped. Despite knowing where they came from, they don’t go back.

This house of horrors just breeds, breeds, breeds, and the dogs are left outside 24/7, matted and tick-infested. Unfortunately, there is not much else we can do, as they are no longer penned up and continued welfare checks fall by the wayside. But the suffering continues in what we feel are deplorable conditions.

This little man, who was simply lying in the alley, was well underweight and had hundreds of ticks. No doubt the dozen or so pups on the property and the adults are in the same condition.

Endless suffering permeates this house, year after year. Our attempts to help with spaying and neutering are obviously seen as the enemy.

But this little man—he escaped, and he is not going back.

10/02/2026

Education! Yes, the weather is finally breaking in Phoenix. Eighty-eight degrees is not 110, but it’s still hot in direct sun, especially on concrete and without water.
When we first saw the puppies, we assumed their situation was temporary. A few hours later, we swung by again. Since we were able to knock on the door—which isn’t always possible, as many yards are locked—we did just that. We kept our message short and sweet, and the owner was appreciative. She explained that she sometimes needs to contain the puppies because they’re so wild.
Our concern was the kennel’s placement and the lack of water. And yes, even at 88 degrees, the Phoenix sun can still be dangerous.

A few weeks ago, we learned about a dog who had been roaming a trailer park. We went out to deliver a pool and dog food ...
09/29/2026

A few weeks ago, we learned about a dog who had been roaming a trailer park. We went out to deliver a pool and dog food to the woman who had been caring for her off and on. We hadn’t planned to leave with her, but it quickly became clear that removing her from the situation was the better option. We scrambled and set her up on a volunteer’s front porch. She’s still there today.

Yes, she is safe, has a pool, gets walks, and even has a swamp cooler. But a volunteer’s porch can only be a temporary stop. Pinto needs a rescue with foster and adoption resources to help her find a home of her own.

Her microchip gave us a name and address, but the phone number was no longer in service. For good measure, we made two trips to the address to make sure the note letting the owner know we had their dog was received. The owner never contacted us, so it was clear they didn’t want her back.

Dogs can go missing for months or even years, and finding an unspayed dog doesn’t tell us the whole story. We hoped her owner had been searching for her—and that the multiple litters happened while she was missing, not while she was in their care. But the owner never contacted us, so it was clear they didn’t want her back.

Pinto needs a rescue partner for her next chapter. Rescue partners—and your friends—please contact us if you can help her find a home. Thank you.

Our partnerships save lives. As you can imagine, so much more goes into these happy-ending pictures.With little Dorothy,...
09/21/2026

Our partnerships save lives. As you can imagine, so much more goes into these happy-ending pictures.

With little Dorothy, there was no doubt in our minds that she was pregnant, which is why we reached out to our pals at Almost There Rescue | PHX AZ Dog Rescue. Once there, their check-in protocol confirmed that although she looked and felt pregnant, her intake exam showed that she was not.

Now what?

The volunteer who transported Dorothy had nowhere for her to go. A big thank-you to ATR, who committed to keeping her overnight, and to our other pals at HARTT, who juggled things around and made room for Dorothy.

Poverty’s Pets likens the rescue of a dog to a nine-inning game. When we handed Dorothy off to HARTT, the game was still in the early innings.

Dorothy was not pregnant, but she had a belly full of pyometra—a life-threatening uterine infection in unspayed female dogs that requires immediate emergency surgery. HARTT and Dorothy still had some rough innings ahead. Her surgery was difficult, and the cost was well beyond that of a routine spay.

But in the end, Dorothy won the ball game, thanks to partnerships that truly do save lives.


How is this sweet, sweet boy not adopted?We have had Rango in our care for over four years. If there were ever a dog who...
09/20/2026

How is this sweet, sweet boy not adopted?

We have had Rango in our care for over four years. If there were ever a dog who deserved a home to call his own, it is Rango.

Rango is loving, affectionate, easygoing, adorable, and the best companion. We did Rango a bit of a disservice by mistakenly believing he needed to be an only dog. We were wrong. Rango does incredibly well with social, dog-friendly dogs and currently has a playmate he romps with every day.

But the truth is, Rango especially loves human companionship. We estimate him to be approximately seven years old. He loves car rides, walks, cuddling, and simply being with his person.

Rango has waited a long time. We hope his person finally finds him.

Say it ain’t so! Porter has left the building—and this is a big deal!Porter has quite the history. He was once on the ru...
09/18/2026

Say it ain’t so! Porter has left the building—and this is a big deal!

Porter has quite the history. He was once on the run, covering well over 25 miles. Finally, after several months, our friends at HARTT brought him to safety.

Porter spent many years in our care at the Columbus House, but it became apparent that he needed more than what we were offering. He lacked confidence, and we thought perhaps a change of scenery would do him good.

In stepped The Dog Tribe Co.—and boy, did Porter thrive under the training and care of Rachel and her team!

Today, Porter is living his absolute best life. His mom and dad are completely smitten with him, and vice versa. The updates we receive are both incredibly sweet and somewhat surreal, as Porter waited years to find his people.

Porter is quite the couch potato now, perhaps catching up after all those miles traveled on those paw pads.

As we always say, there is a lid for every pot. Thanks to Rachel and her team, Porter has finally found his.

We cannot express how thrilled we are for Porter. He now has a dog sibling to pal around with, multiple soft beds and couches, and a mom and dad who loved him to the moon and back from the moment they set eyes on him.


This was a case of an owner with the intent to do good and a situation that spiraled out of control. It is also a case w...
09/16/2026

This was a case of an owner with the intent to do good and a situation that spiraled out of control. It is also a case where two organizations, HARTT and Poverty’s Pets, combined our resources to sterilize and provide aftercare for the remaining twelve dogs on the property — and a neighbor’s dog for good measure.

The twelve dogs were returned home to a grateful owner, and they will never again contribute to our man-made pet overpopulation crisis.

Spay and neuter is the only solution. We simply cannot adopt, foster, warehouse and, in many circumstances, hoard our way out of this mess.

These few pictures and videos are just a snapshot of the coordination, time, stress, heartache, cost, and in the end, fulfillment that went into helping a homeowner who never intended for this to happen. She loves her dogs. She just needed a helping hand.

To our friends at HARTT — we do good work! Well done team.


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PO Box 40112
Phoenix, AZ
85067

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