Stockton dog rescue to implement safe temporary campground homeless residents

In April, CBS News Sacramento ran a story on the crisis of abandoned dogs in Stockton, and two days later, the founder of Stockton Street Dogs, Jesse Mejia, said 50 officers went to help, and that dogs that were shown on our air were rescued.

"That coverage really accelerated this program, and it had a direct impact," Mejia said. "I cannot stress that enough."

There is a plan in the works with the city, which Mejia said went to an ad-hoc committee that will help these dogs and the unhoused population get off the streets.

CBS News Sacramento joined Mejia on a Tuesday morning at a large unhoused encampment on Church Street near St. Mary's Community Services' homeless shelter to hear what this project can do for the city's homeless and abandoned dogs. On this particular morning, Mejia said they had 200 pounds of food that they gave to around 70 dogs.

Mejia loves dogs so much that he started Stockton Street Dogs nearly two years ago and dedicates his time to feeding abandoned dogs and cats up to four times a week.

"Every time I look at a stray, I think of my dogs," Mejia said. "Someone has to think about them eating, and someone has to care. And that's what I'm here for."

Mejia considers the homeless and abandoned dogs situation a "crisis" with up to 300 people on the streets and 80% there because they can't find housing that allows them to bring their pets with them. That's where his plan, called the 'Safe Grounds Project', comes in.

"It's going to alleviate the street dog population by at least 80% in the first 90 days, and it's going to take a lot of stress off Stockton Animal Services," Mejia said. "So it's a win-win. We're keeping the people on the streets together with their pets, and we're also focused on getting them into long-term housing."

Mejia's been lobbying with the city for a year and teamed up with them six months ago for this project, which will partner with rescues around the country to foster or adopt the dogs, and will utilize the resources the city already has, like mobile showers, mobile wi-fi, and porta-potties for the people.

Mejia aims not to have this be "just a quick fix" but a program where people are going to get into housing within 18-to-24 months maximum, as he informed Michelle Cunningham and her foster brother, Jerry, about this on the streets. They're looking to get their dog, 'Boy', a foster home and medical coverage. 

Cunningham said she became homeless a decade ago and emphasized, "We're not all drug addicts". 

"You guys are all one paycheck away from being in the same place we are," Cunningham said.

She's from Napa and moved to Stockton for work. She was a caretaker of Jerry's father.

"I was an in-home caregiver," Cunningham said. "And COVID just pretty much wiped out the work at the time. So, when his dad died, we lost the house and ended up on the streets. And just haven't been able to get back on our feet again since."

She said her significant other died of a heart attack, and now she's on her own.

"Every day just seems to get worse, and more and more and more new people," Cunningham said. "They just destroy it. To be treated like human beings again would be the most helpful of all. We're not bad people. It's just, we need a chance, and we're tired of seeing people dying out here."

Including her friend's husband, Clyde, remembering her dear, late husband with a sign in front of her home.

"Everybody treats us like crap," Cunningham said. "Nobody cares, it seems like, except people like you guys, the rents are so high, it's like, I can't do anything but be here."

But nearby her could soon turn into the brand-new temporary housing with Mejia's plan that would allow pets. On April 6, we ran that story on Mejia, saying Stockton has become a dumping ground for abandoned dogs. 

"Thousands of people saw the coverage that we did and reached out and made a voice at city hall," Mejia said.

The city's homeless committee has been working with Mejia to learn more about the issue and is working together to implement the Safe Grounds Project.

"One person is too many," Michele Padilla, Stockton city councilmember, District 1, and ad-hoc homeless committee chair, said. "We don't want to see any person being on the streets. And we don't want to see any abandoned dogs on the streets. We need to be caring for our people and making sure that they're taken care of and that they get the shelter and services that they're (needing)."

Mejia said Stockton Street Dogs are in this to end the problem, they don't want to "feed forever" because that's not "fixing" it, but that this safe campground could be the first step in reducing the suffering as they try to bark up the right tree, together.

Mejia said one of the best ways people can help is by letting the city and council members know you support a safe campground and that "we cannot help our city and we cannot help the animals if people don't know".