The Homeless Dogs of Leeds

Hello there, my name is Ginger. If you live in Leeds and have been to the city centre at least more than once, there is a high chance we may have met before. I and my human are homeless.
Statistics on Homeless People:
Before we go further, let me ask you a quick question. Do you know how many people in England do not have a home to sleep in each night? Well, according to my best friend and human – Oliver, 1 in 182 people in England are homeless on any given night (Shelter.com). The reasons may include:
• Difficulty finding a suitable and affordable home.
• Discrimination
• A lone parent
• A refugee
Someday, I will share the story of my best friend Oliver and how he became homeless, but not today. Today, I will tell you the story of the dogs who are friends of homeless people.
You see, like you, I am a resident of Leeds. I have lived in Leeds all six years of my life with Oliver. I was born in Harrogate, the oldest of 6 puppies born to a German Shepherd mum and dad. On these streets my fellow homeless dogs and I have seen it all: from friendly kids who like to pet us to fights between drunks, to kidnapping and most recently a fatal stabbing. Yes, a murder! That is what I want to talk about today. When the police came the next day to interrogate eyewitnesses, they asked Oliver, and Ava and Stace’s humans, the same question: “did you see who did this?” Their answer was same as before: “No”! The police probably thought Oliver and his friends were lying. But they were saying the truth. I know because I was there, the humans all slept through the stabbing. Even Stace slept through it. Ava and I saw it all but the police much like other humans, did not speak to us and looked through us as though we did not exist.
No, I do not speak human language, but if the police had bothered to ask us, I would have led them to the biggest clue that was staring them right in the face. But they ignored us. Maybe, if I was well groomed, slept in a warm home in one of those plush dog beds, they would have engaged me or even patted my head. But as I am homeless like my human, so I do not exist.