Homeless Man's dog dies in his arms

En!vy

Legacy Member
Really sad.

It was minus-16 Celsius on Thursday night when Christian banged on the doors of the Berri-UQAM métro station.

It was 2:30 a.m., and it was too cold to be outside — especially for his dog and life companion. Buddy, a Doberman, was wrapped in two blankets in his arms. Still, he was shivering badly.

The shelters — the Maison du Père, the Old Brewery Mission, and the Acceuil Bonneau — were all full, as Montreal recorded its coldest-ever Nov. 22. But only one shelter in Montreal accepts dogs anyway — SOS Itinérance — and it had already closed.

So Christian went to the métro station and in a panic rapped on the glass as hard as he could. But when two inspectors arrived, they refused to let him in. The métro was closed.

Buddy died shortly afterward, a friend of Christian’s says, telling the story 12 hours later.

“(Christian) is very isolated. He doesn’t mix with people. That dog was his life. He was everything to him and now he has nothing to live for anymore,” says Susan Clarke, who runs Calling All Angels, a volunteer organization that provides clothes and hot meals to homeless people downtown.

“People keep saying ‘the métro is so good they open their doors for the homeless’ — but they don’t.”

In this case, there is no one culprit to blame or easy solution, however.

The Société de Transport de Montréal does, in fact, open its doors to the homeless, under certain circumstances. They are allowed to come in from the cold and warm up, says Amélie Régis, a spokesperson for the STM. But only during operating hours — or until about 1 a.m.

“Our stations are closed at 2:30 — we don’t let anyone in when there’s no surveillance. There’s work done on the rails and trains passing. It’s not safe. When it’s cold and the stations are open, we allow them to stay there as long as they follow the rules. But we aren’t a shelter for the homeless. We operate the métro.”

Over the last six years, the STM, in collaboration with the Société de développement social (SDS), has set up “service points” in five métro stations to help the homeless, directing them to the resources they need. They also provide a shuttle service to the Old Brewery Mission from the Bonaventure métro station. But the shuttle is only available in the winter — starting Dec. 1.

The Mission was running its own shuttle service Thursday. But it doesn’t accept dogs.

Émile Roux, the spokesperson for the SDS, speculated someone should have called emergency services to look after Christian and his dog. But was he intoxicated? Or agitated? There are a lot of variables to take into consideration, he said.

“The STM is on the front line, here, but the problem, too, is that people with their dogs don’t have many places to stay in Montreal. Shelters don’t accept couples, they don’t accept people who are intoxicated, they don’t accept pets. That’s where the problem is. The city should be trying to rectify this situation.”

SOS Itinérance welcomes people with their pets, but only until 7 p.m. Another so-called “halte chaleur” (or warming centre) in Hochelaga welcomes pets inside the Roi des Rois church. But it only opens next week.

At the same time, most shelters refuse pets not because they don’t want them there, but because there are too many administrative and other hurdles involved in converting a shelter into a place where animals can stay, too, Roux said.

And yet, for homeless people, animals can be their lifeline.

“Sometimes their pet is the only living thing that hasn’t abandoned them or disappointed them. He has a much more important role in their lives than your dog or mine.”

According to Clarke, who serves hot meals to homeless and needy people downtown every two weeks, Christian is a loner who has been on the streets for 20 years. He always kept his dog warm first, and when he lined up for a hot meal, he always made sure his dog was fed first.

“The dog kept him warm, and he kept the dog warm and the dog protected him,” Clarke said. “But he couldn’t find anywhere (Thursday) night.”

“What frustrates me is to go downtown and see empty buildings that are heated. We need more social housing and more mental health workers on the street to help these people.”

Meanwhile, in Toronto, they are providing heated tents and running toilets for the homeless, Clarke said — why can’t Montreal do the same?

Here, a homeless person is not allowed to sleep on a park bench, only under it, she said.

“In my heart of hearts I think Christian won’t be alive next week. He’ll be another one who will disappear.”


https://montrealgazette.com/news/mo...d-nowhere-to-turn-night-dog-froze-in-his-arms
 
montreal est une des pires ville du canada. Meme toronto et vancouver shines bright a coté d'elle.

Montreal tu es sal et tu fais honte au canadien.
 
I know he lost his best friend and nothing can change that, but hopefully this story will spark something that leads to a happier ending.

ie: The good people of MTL come together and get Christian a new (cold-hardy) dog and some cash. Or more... You never know in the GoFundMe era, he may end up with a new home.
 
En même temps, tout le monde voudrait que la ville et le gouvernement offre davantage de service mais personne ne veut payer pour.

Il y a d'autres causes qui me touche beaucoup plus que l'itinerance, je dois être rendu sans coeur.
 
En même temps, tout le monde voudrait que la ville et le gouvernement offre davantage de service mais personne ne veut payer pour.

Il y a d'autres causes qui me touche beaucoup plus que l'itinerance, je dois être rendu sans coeur.

Ces plus le fait que le pauvre gars y'a vue son chien mourir geler dans ses bras...
 
Triste histoire quand on sait que c'est souvent la seule chose à laquelle ils tiennent. ils en prennent souvent plus soin qu'eux même.

montreal est une des pires ville du canada. Meme toronto et vancouver shines bright a coté d'elle.

Montreal tu es sal et tu fais honte au canadien.

Mais non c'est beau la ville ! quand tu marches dans les rues de rosemont avec tout les arbres (infesté de parasites) qui passent par dessus les rues (rempli de nid de poules ou de construction qui sont la depuis 6 mois), les parcs en été avec plein de monde (qui laissent leurs déchet a terre). Aller boire un café (qui coute vraiment trop cher pour rien) sur le plateau mont-royal ou aller te promener le soir au centre-ville (sur les trottoires tout craqués rempli de botch de cigarettes).

C'est beau la ville
 
Triste histoire quand on sait que c'est souvent la seule chose à laquelle ils tiennent. ils en prennent souvent plus soin qu'eux même.



Mais non c'est beau la ville ! quand tu marches dans les rues de rosemont avec tout les arbres (infesté de parasites) qui passent par dessus les rues (rempli de nid de poules ou de construction qui sont la depuis 6 mois), les parcs en été avec plein de monde (qui laissent leurs déchet a terre). Aller boire un café (qui coute vraiment trop cher pour rien) sur le plateau mont-royal ou aller te promener le soir au centre-ville (sur les trottoires tout craqués rempli de botch de cigarettes).

C'est beau la ville

cest un texte de grand corps malade inversé que tu viens de réciter?


lol
 
Pardon my ignorance, but how can one be homeless in Canada? Don't we have programs to get people off the streets, social assistance, and an overabundance of jobs? I'm sure I'm missing something, but sometimes I feel you almost have to try hard to he homeless in Canada.

I'm not insensitive to his loss; that's always very sad regardless of situation, but he had a roof over his head, his best friend would still be alive. How come he couldn't get himself off the streets?
 
Pardon my ignorance, but how can one be homeless in Canada? Don't we have programs to get people off the streets, social assistance, and an overabundance of jobs? I'm sure I'm missing something, but sometimes I feel you almost have to try hard to he homeless in Canada.

I'm not insensitive to his loss; that's always very sad regardless of situation, but he had a roof over his head, his best friend would still be alive. How come he couldn't get himself off the streets?

veux tu crinker ggti? Parce que cest comme ca que tu va crinker ggti!
 
faut faire pratiquement par exprès pour etre homeless au Canada. faut refuser tout sorte d'aide (et dieu sais qu'il y en a partout) et refuser de rien faire. pas que j'ai pas pitié, mais c'est toujours ben juste un chien et avant d'en avoir un, faut surtout pas etre homeless.
 
guys ont a tu vraiment besoin de vous expliquer que les homeless people sont des gens dysfonctionnelle pour lequel le système ne fonctionne pas ou n'a pas fonctionné?

90% ce sont des problèmes psychiatrique. Souvent la famille leur parle plus parce qu'ils ont tout essayer a une époque. Donc pour avoir du BS ca te prend une adresse, mais pour avoir une adresse ca te prend du BS?

Ca prend une personne pour les sortir de la, cest presque impossible d'y arriver seul. Ca prend quelqu'un pour les parainer, les éduquer afin de les remettre sur pieds, ce sont encore des grands enfants.

also , this redneck :

 
I know he lost his best friend and nothing can change that, but hopefully this story will spark something that leads to a happier ending.

ie: The good people of MTL come together and get Christian a new (cold-hardy) dog and some cash. Or more... You never know in the GoFundMe era, he may end up with a new home.
The GoFundMe era is broken after that homeless scam came out.
 
Pardon my ignorance, but how can one be homeless in Canada? Don't we have programs to get people off the streets, social assistance, and an overabundance of jobs? I'm sure I'm missing something, but sometimes I feel you almost have to try hard to he homeless in Canada.

I'm not insensitive to his loss; that's always very sad regardless of situation, but he had a roof over his head, his best friend would still be alive. How come he couldn't get himself off the streets?

I guess it's hard to grasp if you don't fully understand mental illness, PTSD, addiction....

Yes, there are programs that are meant to help, but in a system this big it's easy for some to slip through the cracks.

It's something I've always been aware of, but I don't think a lot of people realize how fine the line is between doing okay, and not being able to make ends meet. A huge percentage of Canadians are a layoff or an interest hike away from being in the poor house. Without a good support network (friends & family) it can be easy to lose grip.
 
Pardon my ignorance, but how can one be homeless in Canada? Don't we have programs to get people off the streets, social assistance, and an overabundance of jobs? I'm sure I'm missing something, but sometimes I feel you almost have to try hard to he homeless in Canada.

I'm not insensitive to his loss; that's always very sad regardless of situation, but he had a roof over his head, his best friend would still be alive. How come he couldn't get himself off the streets?

Honest offer - come serve a meal with me at Benedict Labre house just behind Centre Ville VW and I'll introduce you to a lot of street people. Like SimZx3KGT mentioned, the vast majority of the issue is mental health. There simply aren't enough resources to service everyone in need, and the vast majority of the people tasked with caring for this sector don't have the appropriate training to identify and manage those that need assistance. Some of the people that come in for meals have undergrad degrees and are actually quite grounded and well spoken. But there is an aspect of their mental health that has prevented them from properly integrating into everyday society and unfortunately they don't have family or friends to fall back on and just run out of options and are unable to cope with their situation and life circumstances. Another big issue is, just like their life situation indicates, they are homeless and don't actually have a mailing address. So if you don't have a government issued photo ID or a formal mailing address you won't have access to the government assistance program, which means you are lost in the system. The other half of that is that a vast majority of homeless people don't have enough of an education to complete and submit the paperwork to get assistance. Hell, they don't even know where to start. So there are places like Benedict Labre House that are charitable organizations that run 100% on donations and try to provide the homeless population with basic services - social aid and tax planning information, 2 meals a day, laundry facilities, shower facilities, computer access, etc. The government simply doesn't offer these services at all with the funding and structure in place.

Just think about if you had no one in your life, and you woke up in the street and had to get out of your 'homeless' situation. Where would you go first? You have no ID, have no real way to prove who you are, have no home mailing address, and no money. Just a change of clothes in a bag and a bottle of water. You may or may not speak french, have very little idea how to navigate the city, and are barely computer literate.

Just think about the steps involved just to get an ID and mailing address in that situation (both cost money) and how long before you get any financial aid from the government.
 
guys ont a tu vraiment besoin de vous expliquer que les homeless people sont des gens dysfonctionnelle pour lequel le système ne fonctionne pas ou n'a pas fonctionné?

90% ce sont des problèmes psychiatrique. Souvent la famille leur parle plus parce qu'ils ont tout essayer a une époque. Donc pour avoir du BS ca te prend une adresse, mais pour avoir une adresse ca te prend du BS?

Ca prend une personne pour les sortir de la, cest presque impossible d'y arriver seul. Ca prend quelqu'un pour les parainer, les éduquer afin de les remettre sur pieds, ce sont encore des grands enfants.

also , this redneck :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZUm2BYP_P4

Ta pas besoin d'adresse pour avoir ton BS. en tout cas c'est ça qui disait dans l'émission Face a la rue avec Jean-Marie Lapointe.
 
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