A new volunteer effort in Mobile is showing that compassion for animals often goes hand in hand with compassion for people. Delta Dogs, a service organization launched as a partner project of the Delta Bike Project and Ark Animal Clinic and Rehabilitation Center, made headlines in mid-January after helping reunite a homeless Mobile man with his badly injured dog.
James Gardner, 51, has lived outdoors in a Mobile encampment for roughly 16 years, sharing his tent with his mixed-breed dog, Seven, and the dog’s mother. Seven was given to Gardner by his late wife, Margaret, who died in 2013, and the dog has since become one of the few constants in Gardner’s life. Earlier this year, an accident left Seven with severe injuries to his chest and eye during a stretch of bitterly cold weather, with overnight temperatures dropping into the teens.
Delta Dogs volunteers learned of Seven’s condition and arranged for immediate treatment. Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Eiland and her staff at Ark Animal Clinic in west Mobile performed emergency surgery on the dog and oversaw several days of recovery. Once Seven was well enough to travel, Eiland and other Delta Dogs volunteers personally returned him to Gardner rather than routing him through a shelter or rescue intake process.
The reunion, described by those present as emotional, brought Gardner’s small found family back together — Seven, his mother, and a second dog belonging to a fellow encampment resident. Gardner, who does occasional work as a plumber, said he was moved that a group of strangers would go to such lengths for an animal belonging to someone living outside the traditional social safety net.
According to Delta Dogs co-founder Jennifer Greene, the organization put out a call for donations on social media to help cover Seven’s veterinary costs and received an outpouring of community support, raising several hundred dollars in less than a day. Greene said the response reflected a broader community interest in supporting Mobile’s homeless population and the animals that often serve as their closest companions.
Delta Dogs grew out of the Delta Bike Project, a Mobile nonprofit that has focused on providing bicycles and mechanical support to residents in need, and represented an expansion of that mission into veterinary care and pet support services for homeless and low-income pet owners in the Mobile area. Organizers said they hoped the visibility from Seven’s story would help sustain the young program as it looked to assist more animals whose owners face housing instability.
For Gardner, the outcome was simpler than any organizational mission statement. With Seven back at his side and recovering well, he said his first plan was to take his dog for a familiar walk through downtown Mobile, grateful that a community of strangers had stepped in when his family needed it most.