A veterinarian is helping homeless people care for their pets
This 'Street Vet' provides free vet care for people experiencing homelessness with their pets.

Keeping up with a dog's routine health care can be a challenge for those experiencing homelessness.
Having a pet is a lot of responsibility, but the benefits are many. Pets can help reduce stress levels and provide emotional support even if you don’t realize they’re doing it. It makes sense that many homeless people have pets that keep them company. Though pets can provide all sorts of psychological benefits, caring for them can be costly, even for the most financially stable pet owner.
Vet bills can range into the thousands, but routine care that many take for granted can catch these costly health issues before they reach the point of breaking the bank. When homeless people are seen hanging out with their pets, folks rarely stop to wonder if these pets are getting appropriate veterinary care. But Dr. Kwane Stewart took note. Stewart has been a veterinarian for 25 years, and currently works at Netflix as an animal consultant as well as sharing his skills with people experiencing homelessness to help with the health check-up their animals need.
In 2019, Stewart was the star of a reality show, Street Vet, where he took to the streets of California to provide vet care to animals of people without homes. He started a pop-up clinic where he would travel to different locations, after meeting a man and his dog on the street. This particular dog was suffering from a skin condition due to a flea infestation that caused a patch of the dog's hair to fall out and a rash. Stewart offered to treat the man's dog, and after a $3 pill, the dog was free of fleas and looking much healthier and happier when Stewart returned to check on it a few weeks later. The dog’s owner tearfully thanked the doctor, and that was when Stewart decided to provide vet care his way with pop-up clinics.
Vaccinations for our pets prevent illnesses, diseases, and keep them healthy. When we met Jessica and \u201cMinnie,\u201d they were both scared of shots, but @DrKwane was able to help educate them on their importance. Minnie was a champ and we are grateful to have been able to assist! pic.twitter.com/gq4mKuUplB— Project Street Vet (@Project Street Vet) 1642867246
Stewart has been doing pop-up clinics and going in search of animals whose owners don’t have the capacity to come to him for more than a decade. He has had his fair share of challenging jobs, one of which was euthanizing a large number of animals during his first years out of vet school, which spurred his search for something more meaningful. He was the director of the No Animals Were Harmed program. And then Netflix came calling with an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Find your passion and go \n#thestreetvet #nojudgementjusthelppic.twitter.com/xJqoBhoIyD— Dr. Kwane Stewart (@Dr. Kwane Stewart) 1644709814
His passion for helping the animals of homeless people was what led him to launch his nonprofit, Project Street Vet. He runs the nonprofit while also owning his own practice Papaya Pet Care, which opened in March 2022, and continuing to consult with Netflix. Project Street Vet allows Stewart to continue his work on the streets for people experiencing homelessness for free.
The care that he provides to the pets he encounters on the street is invaluable. He interacts with the owners with dignity and respect, while providing them with a judgment-free zone as he cares for their pets. Over the 10 years he’s been doing street vet clinics he has helped countless pets, and no doubt he'll continue to help countless more.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."