When my dog collapsed, there was no one to call. No emergency number. No public ambulance. I watched him suffer because our system doesn’t treat pets like family, even though they are. Sign to demand publicly funded 24/7 emergency animal transport in our city.

Pet owners across the country face a terrifying reality: when a beloved animal is in a life-threatening emergency, there’s no number to call and no one dispatched to help. Families without access to emergency transport, especially the elderly, disabled, single caregivers, or those without vehicles are left helpless while their pets suffer. In May 2025, my 100-pound dog Kane collapsed. I couldn’t lift him on my own. No ambulance came. I had to call a stranger to drag him to my car. He died that day scared, in pain, and far from home. My story is not unique, it happens every day.

If nothing changes, countless pets will continue to suffer needlessly and die without care while their families live with the guilt and trauma of not being able to help. We need a 24/7 publicly funded animal ambulance system that ensures every pet in crisis can receive safe, compassionate transport to emergency care. Without it, our emergency system will continue to ignore a reality we all feel: pets are family. And when family members are in crisis, we deserve a system that responds with urgency, dignity, and compassion.

We have the tools since cities already fund emergency services, animal control, and mobile health outreach. However, pet emergencies are still falling through the cracks. It’s time to update our infrastructure in a way that values life and reflects the real human-animal bond that defines millions of lives. This is a public health, emotional wellness, and equity issue. Let’s start with a pilot program in our community and create a model that every city can follow. Let’s make sure no one has to carry their dying pet in silence ever again. Let’s answer the call not just for Kane, but for every pet that cannot voice this themselves. Our beloved pets deserve better.