Homelessness is a growing epidemic in the United States, with the highest percentage of insecure housing in California (Baiocchi et al., 2019;Housing and Urban Development, 2019). However, counts often underrepresent homelessness, and the COVID-19 pandemic will worsen the homelessness epidemic over the next few years (Flaming et al., 2021). As up to 25% of unhoused individuals own pets (Rhoades et al., 2015), increased homelessness also increases unhoused pets. Societal, economic and medical impacts of pet ownership among homeless are complex and warrant study as part of efforts to address homelessness and animal welfare.Research strongly supports benefits of companion animals to individuals experiencing homelessness, such as improved mental health,