OWENSBORO, Ky. — In the woods along a trail where she was once homeless, Beth Schooler walked while recalling floods that forced her to seek help for her pets while struggling to survive.

Schooler, who spent three years unhoused in Daviess County, credited a local nonprofit for keeping her bond with her dog, Louie, intact during crises that included extreme weather and limited access to veterinary care.

“It keeps me grounded,” Schooler said of Louie, a 5-year-old beagle she rescued from a Florida shelter. “If I didn’t have him, I wouldn’t have a focus. I’d just be lost.”

Advocates Working for Pet and Animal Welfare provides food, medical services and temporary fostering for pets of unhoused, low-income and crisis-stricken residents in Owensboro. The all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization

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