Philly animal activists focus on ‘both ends of the leash’ to increase diversity and inclusion

Carina Cheatham hasn’t met many people in animal welfare who look like her, but that never stopped her from helping a creature in need. That’s where Ava comes in.

Last December, Cheatham’s social media lit up for days about a stray dog running up and down Cottman Avenue.. So with a winter storm brewing, she and her daughter Arianna, 9, hit the roads. They found the scared pup, coaxed her into their car, and got her to the PSPCA. Before long, the dog they called Ava got adopted.

“It felt good,” said Cheatham, who was so inspired, she created her rescue, The Black Thornberry, named for a Nickelodeon cartoon character who speaks to animals. Since then, Cheatham, better known as Nina Love on social media and in rescue circles, has found foster homes for strays, helped fund vet care, and delivers free pet food to owners in need.

“I want to use my platform so other people can see it’s possible,” said Cheatham, 31, a veterinary technician. “I feel like as a Black woman, they need to see they can do it as well.”

Across the nation, animal welfare leaders say their movement needs more voices like Cheatham. They are calling for increased diversity in their own ranks, as well as more programs that support a more racially, culturally, and economically inclusive vision of pet ownership.

“The fact that 70% of Americans have pets is a demonstration of how much this country loves animals and regards them as part of the family,” said Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, the world’s largest no-kill animal organization. “There’s a lot of diversity in that 70%, and we should represent the communities we serve.”

Two of the nation’s major pet charities have made diversity, equity, and inclusion a funding priority in recent years, much the same as other institutions have focused on greater social justice.

In the past year, Maddie’s Fund, one of the charities, distributed $1 million in grants to aid animal organizations led by people of color — and The Black Thornberry was one of them.

PetSmart Charities has pumped $15 million into their ongoing campaign to make veterinary care accessible to the estimated 50% of pet owners who struggle to afford it. In Philadelphia, that campaign included partnering with Emancipet, an animal care nonprofit, to open a new reduced-cost vet services and spay/neuter clinic last July at the PetSmart store on Roosevelt Boulevard.

“We don’t feel socio-economic barriers should keep someone from enjoying the companionship of a pet,” said Kate Atema, PetSmart Charities’ director of community grants and initiatives.

CARE (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity), a national advocacy group whose mission is increased diversity and inclusion in animal welfare, is hosting its first Philadelphia conference Oct. 6 to 8. It will be releasing new research it commissioned that affirms the close relationships people of color have with their pets.

“Different cultures may celebrate the human and animal bond in unique ways, but this study proves once again, ‘Love is love,’” said CARE cofounder James Evans. “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Americans are bonded to their four-legged family in the deepest of ways.”

CARE has been advocating for more BIPOC leaders in animal welfare, a field that CARE and many others in the movement agree has long been predominantly white. The reasons are many, but Evans said they include people of color not being sought out or feeling unwelcomed intentionally or unintentionally by mostly white institutions. Also, Evans said, since people of color in America disproportionately face economic challenges, they may not feel they have time to devote to animal welfare, which is largely volunteer-based. And with fewer BIPOC people involved, he said, they are less likely to become candidates for leadership.

According to CARE, more BIPOC leadership in animal welfare could lead to more culturally sensitive programs, including adoption policies that could decrease the number of animals in shelters.

“All of us have biases. It’s part of the human experience,” Evans said. “We’re asking people to examine those biases against real data and real information.”

Leslie Miller is a retired Baltimore city police officer who CARE helped advocate for last winter.

Miller, 69, an experienced pet owner who is Black, had put in 18 applications at various rescues and shelters to adopt a dog. All of them either didn’t respond or turned her down.

Miller said a Great Dane rescue told her she didn’t have enough money to keep a Great Dane — even though her last two dogs were Danes, and she had a stable income, not to mention a fenced-in yard.

CARE reached out to its network and connected Miller with The Animal Adoption Center in Lindenwold, who had a Great Dane in need of a home..

Soon, a thrilled-to-tears Miller took Rudy, a tan, male Dane, home to Baltimore.

Evans said he thinks Miller had been discriminated against because of her inner city Baltimore zip code and her age.

“It was a nightmare, and it was very humiliating,” said Miller of the rejections.

In a city as diverse as Philadelphia, some of the major animal welfare organizations have been expanding programs to keep existing human-animal families intact.

“When we all first began, it was very animal-focused,” said Melissa Levy, executive director of PAWS. “Now it’s very much about both ends of the leash.”

PAWS’s adoption process is an initial application and then a conversation between the person who wants to adopt and a PAWS adoption counselor to help arrive at a successful pet-person match, not eliminate people based on factors like income, according to Levy.

That conversation can include talking about what supports the new owner might need.

PAWS and their colleagues at the PSPCA have increased their low-cost and free veterinary services and have community outreach programs that offer a host of services for all pet owners. That has included partnering with other community groups to distribute pet food and other resources. PAWS recently began a temporary foster program to take in animals on a short-term basis whose owners, because of housing or other problems might otherwise have to give up their pets. The agency is looking for more fosters so it can expand the program.

PAWS helped Charlotte Winslow, 71, of South Philadelphia get a large growth removed from one of the legs of Obie, a poodle mix that had belonged to her late husband. Winslow said she couldn’t afford the $1,300 a private veterinarian wanted to charge her, but she couldn’t imagine life without Obie.

“He’s my company. I say there are two people here: Jesus, me and the dog,” she said. “As long as I’m living and God gives me breath in my body, I’m going to take care of this dog.”

Adell Johnson, 41, a home health aide from South Philly, said PAWS provided her with three months of dog food when her work hours were greatly cut back during the pandemic.

“It was absolutely amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything more during those trying times,” she said. “My dogs mean as much to me as my kids.”

Animals have meant a lot to Cheatham since she was a little girl, when her science teacher mom taught about small creatures and her pet rabbit Fluffy was her escape from bullying at school and other troubles.

Her favorite cartoon was The Wild Thornberrys, about a family that travels the world in an RV making wildlife films and daughter Eliza who could speak to animals.

Now that she has started her nonprofit, The Black Thornberry, Cheatham has been trying to raise the funds to buy a van for her animal rescue work around the Philadelphia area.

A few months ago, Cheatham appeared on the Ellen Show to talk about her rescue and the need for diversity in animal welfare. She was given $10,000 to help with her work. In addition to the Maddie’s Fund support, she’s gotten other grants, too. She also does her own fund-raising to pay for things like her pet food deliveries and animal health needs.

She hopes that hearing about The Black Thornberry may lead others to step up.

“The next day they see an injured animal, maybe they’ll think back and say, ‘She did this the other day. Let me see if I can help,” she said. “I want people to understand that they can do it as well.”

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