Meet a few longtime clients — canine and human — of Rogue Valley Street Dogs

By Midge Raymond

Since 2013, Rogue Valley Street Dogs has been providing essentials — from food and gear to medical and spay/neuter services — to the pets of those affected by houselessness and poverty. 

The Street Dogs team has known many of their clients for years and has witnessed the strong bond clients have with their animals, made stronger by their circumstances. “Personally, as a total dog lover, my dogs are my world,” says Street Dogs president Laurie Cuddy. “And when you don’t have all of the support systems that other people might have in their lives — family and friends and financial support — and you have an animal who just loves you unconditionally, they do mean the world. And most of the people we know with these dogs, they’re together 24 hours a day. They’re never apart, and so they just get so, so, so close to them.” 

At a few recent Street Dogs outreach events, this bond was on display with clients who came out for supplies, appointments — and just to give thanks. 

“Everybody Loves Her”

Mary and her chihuahua-bulldog mix Sparkles live with Mary’s partner, Michael, at Rogue Retreat Crossings, an urban campground in Medford for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Laurie Cuddy, who has known Mary for a long time, says that “Sparkles has just added so much sparkle to (Mary’s) life. And she’s so devoted to her and has been so conscientious about making sure she has every vaccine on time and to get her spayed. She’s just done a great job with her.” 

At a recent Street Dogs outreach, Sparkles got a new harness, winter jacket, food and treats — and an appointment for spay surgery. 

“I’d love her to have puppies but, you know, where are we going to keep them?” Mary says. “And I’d probably fall in love with them all.”

Sparkles already has the energy of a whole litter of puppies. “She thinks she’s a big dog,” Mary says with a laugh as Sparkles runs up to every human who passes by. “She’s really good, though. And everybody loves her.”

Several Rogue Retreat Crossings staff members stop to greet Sparkles, calling out her name and picking her up to snuggle with her. “She knows the staff and everything,” Mary says. “We take her to the park over here and throw balls and stuff. Anything around, she thinks it’s a ball. She tries to play with all the big dogs, you know, she’ll run up there to play and then she’ll take off. I love her. She’s wonderful.” 

Mary, Michael and Sparkles have been at the Crossings for about two and a half years. Thanks to Street Dogs, Sparkles also has a microchip. As Sparkles prances around her feet, Mary reaches down to pet her. “I love you. I love you, Sparkles.” 

“You’re My Reason” 

Terry and his 10-year-old dog, Boone, have a long history with Rogue Valley Street Dogs; Boone even appeared on one of the organization’s brochures. “I would go out to St. Vincent’s, and that’s when we met everybody at Street Dogs,” Terry says. “They’ve given him leashes and coats and collars. He would drag his leashes — I’d keep the leash on him, but I didn’t hold it all the time, and he would drag his leash to pieces.”

Terry, who is on disability — “I need a hip transplant; I’ve been waiting for over a year” — has been at Rogue Retreat Crossings with Boone since April of 2025.

“Terry has been through a lot over the years since I’ve known him,” Laurie says, “and Boone has been the one really consistent, steady presence in his life.”

On a warm, late-autumn afternoon, Terry sits outside the large tent where Street Dogs holds its outreach, and Boone, who weighs 60 pounds, climbs into Terry’s lap, nearly knocking them both out of the chair. “He wants to sit in everybody’s lap,” Terry says. “Oh, I love you, buddy. I love you.” 

When he and Boone were younger, Terry says, the dog used to take flying leaps into Terry’s arms. They can’t do this now — “we’re getting old together” — but Boone seems to miss it, so one day Terry backed up to a fence to brace himself against it so Boone could leap into his arms again. “Yeah, I had him jump up, and he was so happy.” 

Boone eventually gets off Terry’s lap, but then he climbs partway up again to smother Terry’s face with kisses. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here,” Terry says. “If fate has any decency at all, they’ll find a way for us to go together. I don’t have any family left, so.” He looks down at Boone. “Me and you, huh? Me and you forever.” 

Like Sparkles, Boone is well known to the humans and other dogs at Rogue Retreat Crossings. “This dog’s got more friends than I do,” Terry says, looking down at Boone. “I love you so much,” he says. “You’re my reason.” 

“They’re My World”

On an icy cold morning in Ashland, Deborah Dupuis arrives at the Street Dogs OHRA outreach event with her two rescue dogs, George and Scotia. 

Deborah has had George — who, after being found tied to a pole, had five homes before Deborah adopted him — for 10 years, and she’s had Scotia, who’d been abandoned in the Arizona desert, for nearly as long.

When she lost her third rescue dog, from kidney failure, Street Dogs helped her get through it. “She had the best life until she was diagnosed with kidney failure,” Deborah says. “With a dog, that’s a death sentence, and (Street Dogs) were my rock. We were in a van at that time, sleeping with three diapers on her and puppy pads and everything. Laurie helped me take care of her. She was with me at the vet. She’s a beautiful person. I love her.” 

“It was heartbreaking,” Laurie says of helping Deborah through her dog’s illness and euthanasia. “The dogs are her world, and they mean so much to her and keep her going. People tell me all the time that the dogs are their reason for persisting, for living, for trying to do better.”

On this day, Deborah came to the OHRA event just to see Laurie, whom she first met when Street Dogs helped get Scotia spayed. “Laurie was so helpful. I’ve gotten food many times. And I got (the dogs’) shots and, of course, I love their biodegradable poop bags.”

Whenever another dog comes near, George barks, and Deborah says, “George, look at me.” He does, then immediately settles down. “You’re such good children,” Deborah says, petting them both. “Mama loves you so much.” 

Deborah used to live on the East Coast, where she was an American Sign Language interpreter at a state mental health facility. “I got by for quite a few years,” she says. “I used to be a homeowner. I was a college professor. And I worked in mental health.”

Though unhoused for a while, she says, “I’ve just purchased an RV. I would rather live in an RV than in a house because we don’t like neighbors, and they’re active dogs. We walk about five miles a day. We’re all growing old together. I’m 62, and they’re like in their 60s and 70s (in dog years).”

George and Scotia are “my life,” she says. “They’re my world.” 

At outreach events like these, Street Dogs brings housed and unhoused people and their animals together for these essential services. In 2024, Street Dogs arranged 510 spay/neuter surgeries, up 59 percent from the year before. Street Dogs also distributed more than 10,000 pounds of dry food and 2,000 cans of wet food for dogs and cats, vaccinated more than 400 animals and distributed hundreds of collars, leashes, harnesses and coats. Last year, 625 spay/neuters were funded and facilitated, a 22% increase over 2024. 

To learn more about Rogue Valley Street Dogs, visit roguevalleystreetdogs.org. 

Ashland resident Midge Raymond is co-founder of Ashland Creek Press and author of the novels “Floreana” and “My Last Continent” and co-author of “Devils Island.” She can be reached at [email protected].