In October 1986, a group of San Francisco Foodbank volunteers saw the need to help support the pets of people living with AIDS. Many of these volunteers were people living with AIDS themselves and realized that some of the food bank clients were neglecting their own nutrition by feeding their rations to their animal companions. They remedied this situation by getting the foodbank to carry pet food and pet-related products, and then helped develop Pets Are Wonderful Support for people with AIDS/ARC, nicknamed “PAWS,” as an official project of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in the spring of 1987.

Milestones for organizations like ours are bittersweet. In a perfect world there would not be a need for us. Ideally, we would have found a cure to AIDS and every person who is living with a life-threatening illness would not have to worry about losing the emotional support of a beloved companion animal. Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world and there is a very real need for support organizations like PAWS. While we recognize these sobering facts, we are also very proud of the services that we have been providing to San Franciscans living with AIDS for over 15 years.

PAWS has gone through some difficult times during its history and faced closing its doors on more than one occasion. But each time dedicated supporters who passionately understood and believed in our mission came through and kept hope alive for our clients. Today PAWS is financially secure, vibrant and ready to meet the challenges of the future.

PAWS has continued that vital program while expanding the array of services available for our clients and the community. Through our Vet Fund we are able to offer emergency veterinary care to our clients’ companion animals and through our collaboration with Pet’s Unlimited we are able to offer annual check ups. Thanks to our dedicated volunteers, our clients do not have to worry about walking their dogs or changing the cat litter box when they are too ill to do so.

Through our educational programs, PAWS has been the source of accurate and important information on how people with illnesses can safely enjoy the love and companionship of a pet. PAWS has been a leader in education through the publication of our “Safe Pet Guidelines” and fact sheets on zoonotic diseases as well as through our Lesbian and Gay Veterinary Medical Association (LGVMA) award winning veterinary externship program. In 1991, the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) began referring questions about the risks of animal companionship for people with immuno-suppression to PAWS as a matter of policy. Additionally, PAWS has been a leader in educating the community about the benefits of the human-animal bond. We have been present at the National AIDS update conferences and at the most recent International AIDS Conference in Durban South Africa. In 2000, we convened our summit conference, The Human-Animal Bond: Lessons Learned from the AIDS Epidemic.

Now we are prepared to do even more. PAWS has assessed the feasibility of expanding our services beyond our current scope of clients who are living with AIDS to a broader community of people living with life threatening illnesses. It has always been clear that the importance of animal companionship for someone who is ill is not limited to people with AIDS. The agency began a pilot project to look at the impact that broadening the community we serve would have on our clients and our agency’s resources. In January 2001, the Board of Directors and staff began an intensive strategic planning process to pave the way for the agency’s future with the feasibility of broadening the community that we serve as a fundamental issue to be addressed.

As PAWS begins the second half of its second decade, we are excited that we are embarking on new ways to serve our community. Our mission is simple yet powerful: improving the quality of life for persons with AIDS and other life threatening illnesses by offering the emotional and practical support to keep the love and companionship of their pets, and by providing information on the benefits and risks of animal companionship. We want to thank you for your past support and we hope that you will continue to support the work we do.

--Randy Allgaier, PAWS Board President, 2001-2004