'It’s amazing that something that’s so focused on animals can make you feel so human'

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, firefighter, Big Issue Ambassador and adviser to the Prince of Wales at his Homewards initiative, explains why she is supporting StreetVet on their mission to provide free, accessible and often essential veterinary care for the pets of people experiencing homelessness.

Sabrina Cohen-Hatton is chief fire officer of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, an award-winning psychologist and writer, and a Big Issue Ambassador who also finds time to work alongside the Prince of Wales at Homewards, which aims to find new solutions to homelessness.

Since 2022, Cohen-Hatton has also added StreetVet Ambassador to her impressive CV. Not because she was looking for more work, though she admits she loves to be busy, but because she believes in their mission — having experienced homelessness as a teenager, and been helped through her toughest times by a four-legged friend.

“When I was rough sleeping, I had a stray dog. He came and found me. I was sitting on some concrete steps in Newport and he came running up to me. He was a stray and had obviously not been part of a family for a while. His coat was in poor condition, his ribs were showing, but he came running over. I started to fuss him. His tail was wagging. He jumped all over me, started licking me, and I ended up falling backwards. I laughed and said, ‘Oh, you’re a menace’. That’s how Menace got his name.

“He was a stray dog and I was a stray girl, so it worked. We later found his owners, and it turned out he’d escaped from their back garden. When they saw how closely bonded we were, they said I should keep him because it would be unfair to split us up. It was lovely to know he came from a loving home and had just lost his way.

“So, at a time when I was completely socially and emotionally isolated, he was my connection when otherwise I had nobody. And that meant the world to me.

“I would look after him before I’d look after myself. Menace would always eat first. I believe that, because I had that connection with him, it protected me from seeking a connection with other people — some of whom might have sought to exploit my vulnerability. I truly think Menace was a significant contributing factor to me surviving homelessness.

“And not just surviving, but my recovery from homelessness as well. That’s the bit of the story that is too often forgotten. Recovering from homelessness isn’t just getting a roof over your head. There is a whole sense of your identity and how you fit into the world — and the sense of stigma and shame that pervaded my experience for so long.

“Menace was my constant. He was always by my side. And he gave me some grounding when I first moved into secure accommodation. I had a few false starts, including living in a van and in a shared house where I was attacked by another person living there. So people might think it’s just about housing, but it’s about so much more.

“Menace helped me find my place back in the world. At a time when it’s really hard to let your guard down around people, I had a being with me that I completely trusted. So Menace was incredibly important. And he stayed with me for many years after that — including life events like me meeting my husband and getting married, and the birth of our daughter. He wasn’t at the birth, that would be weird. But he was with me at that time and passed away an old, old dog. He was such a faithful companion.

“The reason I appreciate what StreetVet do so much is that I’ve seen how vital that human-animal bond can be.

“When you are rough sleeping, just a simple thing like your dog having a small cut or a skin complaint can be enormously stressful. For anyone not experiencing homelessness who has a pet, it might be really simple. ‘Oh, the dog’s got a rash. I’ll just pop along to the vets and the insurance will take care of it’. But you don’t have those options on the street. And something relatively easy to fix can be an intense source of concern and worry.

“It can exacerbate mental health issues and lead to a deep sense of overwhelm.

“StreetVet have an amazingly generous network of over 440 volunteer vets, vet nurses and support volunteers across the UK; experts who give up their time to go out in all weathers, daytime, evenings or at the weekend to provide outreach veterinary care that is so vital. They help fix those problems simply and quickly, and if a pet needs further treatment in a practice, they support with that too. It means people and their animals can stay together.

“What really struck me when I’ve been to StreetVet outreach sessions was not just the veterinary care. It was the rapport between the pet owners and the StreetVet volunteers. The discussions went much broader than just helping the animal. There were conversations about housing or accessing support — and what really touched me more than anything else was the humanisation of people.

“During my experience of rough sleeping, I remember feeling incredibly dehumanised. You feel like you don’t have any value. But here are a group of volunteers who treat everyone as equals and make people who spend their lives feeling invisible feel seen.

“I see so many parallels with Big Issue. The outcomes StreetVet are looking to achieve are the same: helping people experiencing homelessness and poverty, and making a difference.

“From my experience of selling Big Issue as a teenager, I knew many other vendors that also had an animal. The work StreetVet does helps people like us move past homelessness, making it an experience and not part of your identity.

“It’s amazing that something that’s so focused on animals can make you feel so human.”

Find out more about StreetVet and how to support the vital work they do at streetvet.org.uk

StreetVet is a registered charity: England and Wales No. 1181527, Scotland No. SC052940.