Animal care provider assists San Jose's unhoused residents during encampment sweeps
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Animal advocate Kim McIntyre, on Wednesday, was caring for three dogs at her apartment in the Japantown section of San Jose. The animals, "Daly," "Knightly" and "Vato," all played together while following her every move.
"As a kid I always loved animals. And so this was just a natural way for me to make my mark in the world," said McIntyre, owner of the Saint Francis Animal Protection Society.
After feeding and bathing the pooches, she administers deworming medication for the pet’s owners, who are some of San Jose’s unhoused residents who are seeing their encampments moved.
"I got a call from these dog’s owner. Her name is Jayme. Jayme called me at 7 a.m. and the dogs were terrified. There were cops there with heavy equipment and the dogs were terrified. And so she wanted to see if I could take them for the day while they swept. So I could keep them safe," said McIntyre, a former public relations specialist in the South Bay.
Starting around 7 a.m., city crews made their way down a dusty access road that runs alongside Highway 87 near Downtown San Jose. From the Taylor Street overcrossing south to Coleman Ave., posted signs alert people to the encampment abatement work that was to be done this day.
"Imagine that under the pressure of having thieves lurking around trying to steal your (expletive). Excuse me, stuff, as you’re moving it. Moving is hard enough. But the pressures that go along with it under these circumstances make the violence heightened," said Cathleen Langdan, an unhoused resident living in San Jose.
San Jose city officials said the posted signs were designed to keep a site that was already cleared free from new encampments springing up. They said the tents, RVs and cardboard dwellings east of Irene St., and currently under the approach route of San Jose Mineta International Airport, will be removed next week in compliance with federal law.
"In case there’s a fire, smoke comes up and it impacts air travel. And also encampments attract birds, and they get in the way of the flight path and make it difficult for planes to land," said Amanda Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the San Jose Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services.
For now the difficulty is on the ground, where residents occupying 30-to-40 small encampments were given two weeks notice to move, and now have one-week left before the clutter of makeshift living spaces is removed.
"I’m kind of a conduit between them and services. I know where their camps are. I know what pets they have," said McIntyre.
The sweeps of the encampments east of Irene St. are scheduled to begin Sept. 3.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on Instagram, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU
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