Brett lives in his van with his dogs Gus, Paddington and Mike. Credit:Justin McManus As difficult as it is for any homeless person to find accommodation - and census figures show homelessness is increasing - it is much harder for those who have pets: most crisis shelters and hostels, especially those that are communal, don't have the facilities to house animals on site. Many homeless people refuse to accept accommodation at shelters if their pets cannot go with them. Put simply, they are willing to sacrifice their own wellbeing and safety to be with the animal that for so many is their only companion. The Salvation Army, like many welfare agencies, tries to help by working with animal welfare groups and private kennels to house pets until pet-friendly transitional or permanent accommodation can be arranged - which can take some time. But because of funding shortages, and a lack of short-term foster carers, the time that animals can be kept is limited and for Jack, who has been at a kennel in Sunshine for nearly three months, his time there is nearly up. So Dyson may soon have to return to the streets unless he can find accommodation that will take both of them.

Shannon Oliver and Blake Reeves with his dogs Jaaks and Tinkerbell. Credit:Justin McManus Heavily tattooed, Dyson has had his share of trouble and describes himself as being ''a pain in the arse''. But for the past nine years travelling around Australia he has found solace, comfort and support in Jack, whom he has owned since he was a three-month-old pup. Dyson would not think about giving up Jack to keep a roof over his head. Simon and his dog named Bull. Credit:Justin McManus ''He's just part of me. I'd really be missing something if I did give him up,'' says Dyson, who has seen Jack only a couple of times since he has been in the kennels.

''Hopefully I'll be able to get accommodation somewhere. I doubt it but you never know. Jack's the world to me. I'll do anything for him. If it means putting myself on the streets again to look after him, that's what I have to do.'' Shawn Malone with his dog Ted. Credit:Justin McManus How to house homeless people with their pets is an issue that has been troubling welfare groups for years. ''I have to say it's darn near impossible to find emergency accommodation for pets,'' says Rob Ward, Wesley Mission's general manager for advocacy and relationships. ''Lots of barriers are created by having a pet but if our driver is compassion then we need to find a way to see pets as part of the family.'' While transitional and public housing do allow pets, it is crisis shelters that are often the first stop for many people without a place to live. And they rarely provide onsite housing for pets, although there are a few that provide stand-alone units with small backyards that can accommodate pets.

''Our concern is if we're presenting a barrier to someone who is sleeping rough. It's a real concern and we do know people won't come in because they have to put their pet into care,'' says Tony Keenan, chief executive of Hanover services, which provides housing for the homeless, including a 50-room crisis shelter at Melbourne's Southbank. Like many homeless who have pets, Shawn Malone will not consider being separated from his kelpie-cross Ted for even one night. ''I'd rather sleep on the streets,'' says Malone, who lived in his car with Ted for 18 months. ''We did a bit of travelling while we were homeless and struggling, and just the path we've taken together as mates, we're very close. He's an inspiration in my life so that's another reason I'd never part with him,'' Malone says. Malone now has public housing, so he and Ted are under the same roof. Simon has also recently found public housing but before that he lived on the streets with his dog Bull, an 11-year-old heeler-Belgian shepherd cross. He says crisis shelters just do not provide for pets. ''If you have an animal they don't want to know you,'' he says. ''There is no option whatsoever for someone with pets apart from putting them in the pound.'' Rose Searby, who founded Sydney-based HELPP, which aims to help homeless people keep their pets or ''companion animals'', says often the homeless will go without food so they can feed their pet. ''If you can imagine they're with them 24 hours a day, seven days a week and there's been research that's been done that's shown that homeless people think of their animals as substitute children.

''They're their families, they're their life. They do not want to give them up. They want that animal close to them because that animal is often the only living being that they have in their lives.'' Michael Dyson says pets help fill a void in the lives of many homeless. ''All I know is that pets are quite important to people on the streets because they give us company and a sense of purpose. We don't have much purpose in our own lives so these little blokes give us something to go on for.'' So why do crisis shelters not accept pets ? For many communal shelters it comes down to a lack of space and funding and concerns about the safety of both the animals and residents. Also, welfare organisations that deal with private shelter providers say that landlords are reluctant to allow pets. ''Believe me, I've been told everything, from they'll poo and wee everywhere to they're unclean, they'll bite people and they'll scratch people,'' says Searby, ''when in fact animals of homeless people, particularly dogs, are actually really, really well behaved and very well trained because they have to be because they live on the streets or in people's houses or wherever,'' she says. Hanover has an agreement with the RSPCA to house animals but Tony Keenan says it is hoping to follow the example of shelters in the United States and build on-site housing for pets. But he says it is not a simple process.

''We would need to have secure outdoor facilities [and] it's not possible to check the temperament of the pets, particular if it's a dog, in terms of safety for other clients,'' says Keenan, who concedes some do succeed in sneaking animals into the rooms. Felicity Reynolds, chief executive of the Sydney-based Mercy Foundation, says while the number of homeless who have pets may not be large it is an ''important number''. ''If our system is about going to a crisis accommodation hostel and then to a transitional housing program and then finally make it into housing, that works perfectly well if you've got very few problems and you certainly don't have a pet. If you have a pet you may not get onto the first rung.'' The Salvation Army's Brendan Nottle, commanding officer for Melbourne, says there has been an increase in homeless people with pets meeting its food van during its nightly runs, or coming into the Bourke Street cafe for a meal. Liz Walker, who is the shelter manager at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in North Melbourne, agrees. The shelter looks after the pets of homeless people facing difficulties for up to four weeks. ''It's growing and it's growing quickly,'' she says.

Kedy Kristal, chief executive of Perth's Patricia Giles Centre, which helps people escaping domestic abuse, says the welfare of pets is a significant issue for those leaving abusive relationships: sometimes they are also threatened with violence. Because of this Kedy says it is important to recognise that pets are very important to vulnerable people and should be included in any housing solution. ''We need to make it possible for those pets to be cared for,'' she says. For some people, it can be disturbing to see pets sitting alongside their homeless owners in the street. Are they being properly cared for? Pets can sometimes appear dirty, their owners affected by drugs or alcohol or suffering from a mental illness. But welfare workers say such pets are generally healthy, happy and well cared for. The health of pets has also been augmented by such programs as the RSPCA's Living Ruff program in Sydney, which provides pet food and veterinary help to animals living on the street. And food vans for the homeless are often also stocked with pet food. Their pets are often the only source of social interaction for many homeless and for Brett who has been living in his car, a late-model Land Rover, a reminder of better times. Brett has Parkinson's disease but finds comfort in the times that he has his three small dogs with him. He no longer lives with his wife and collects the dogs every second week from her house.

''With my condition where I can barely speak sometimes, I tend not to socialise too much but the dogs make me … without them I would shy away from social contact,'' he says. And the pets in need of short-term housing are not always those you'd expect, says Adele Mapperson, a chaplain at Lort Smith, who also helps grieving homeless people who have to give up their pets. One man had to relinquish his pet mice. ''They would just sort of crawl around inside his coat and all sort of things,'' she says. ''We would just talk about what life was like for him and the place of these animals in his life. It was this incredible, affectionate, interactive relationship.'' This man's story had a happy ending when he found a place to live where he could keep his mice. But not everyone is so fortunate. Jacqui Bruno and her 11-month old Jack Russell cross Toro bed down at an electrical substation in the Fitzroy Gardens. She hopes to see a time when pets are not an obstacle to housing.

''I couldn't see my life without him. It's not faceable,'' Bruno says. ''I don't see why there should be any reason we should part … there's no reason why, if a dog has been brought into your life, it should be jeopardised because of the housing situation or people's opinions or things like that.'' SHANNON, BLAKE, JAAKS AND TINKERBELL

Shannon Oliver has been living on the streets for 21⁄2 years and she knows the heartbreak of giving up a pet. Oliver took Tyson, her American staffordshire terrier, with her when she left home. Her loyal pet gave her companionship and the protection on the streets she felt she needed. But she soon found that she could not find housing while she had Tyson, so she reluctantly gave him to her mother. “He was my baby,’’ she says. ‘‘I still love him to this day. I still go and visit him every now and then. I miss him.” But recently she has again found comfort in a friend’s pets. She helps the friend, Blake Reeves, who was badly injured several years ago, take care of his dogs Jaaks and Tinkerbell. SIMON AND BULL

For about three years Simon has been homeless, sleeping under a bridge in North Melbourne. He begs for money on the streets. He is an electrician but was injured at work seven years ago and has found life difficult ever since. His main support is Bull, a Belgian shepherd cross. ‘‘He’s my life, my family,’’ says Simon. ‘‘He’s been by my side for 11 years, and I sleep well at night with the dog there. I know that no one can come close to me.’’ Simon has recently found public housing after years of rejections. ‘‘He is good for my health, for my self esteem. He makes me get up in the mornings.’’ Loading SHAWN AND TED

Shawn Malone did not plan on getting a dog when he was living in Tasmania a few years ago. Until he found Ted, a sixweek-old kelpie, and bought him for $20. They formed a bond during the 18 months they spent living in Malone’s car and travelling around Victoria because he could not find a place that would accept Ted. ‘‘It was hard,’’ Malone said. ‘‘I actually snuck him into a motel a couple of nights. They didn’t know. I just had to keep him quiet. I’d do it hard again if I had to just to keep him. I gave him an oath that I’d get him through his whole lifetime, hopefully. Some people might call me crazy, but a lot of people would understand.’’

BRETT AND GUS, PADDINGTON AND MIKE

Brett has Parkinson’s disease and has been living in his van, parking in different places around Melbourne, but he never stays in one place too long, to avoid being hassled. Brett collects his two dogs, Gus and Paddington, and his daughter’s dog, Mike, every second week from his wife. He says the dogs give him unconditional love. They are the reason he has resisted taking housing that does not allow pets. “Had someone told me two or three years ago that I’d be in this position I would have laughed at them,” Brett says. ‘‘Only now have I begun to realise the many different factors that go into making a person homeless. We’re not all drug addicts and drunks.”