The inspiration to get involved first came from her daughter, who at the age of 12 insisted the pair volunteer to take care of animals at a local shelter.

Reese began to foster animals until their eventual adoption. Since she began, she estimated she has seen 50 to 60 animals adopted under her care — minus the cat, Winston, her family decided to keep as their own.

Reese, also the director of MSU’s global urban studies program recently turned her attention to the massive animal welfare issue that exists in Detroit in her latest research.

Per a survey of local animal welfare groups, Reese has estimated about 7,500 dogs and 18,000 cats that live as strays on the streets and in the abandoned buildings of Detroit.

“Partly it’s a health concern for animals and potentially humans because of bites and the transmission of parasites,” Reese said. “It’s just another visible marker of disorder and deterioration in addition to the abandoned buildings, crime rates … (it is) disheartening for the residents.”

Reese said the homeless animal population is much too large for Detroit to handle on its own, as the city has only four animal control officers.

Reese said the hope lies with the numerous volunteer organizations that have been attempting to help the abandoned animals and educate the human residents about how to solve the problem on a large scale.

In Mexicantown, for example, she said it has become culturally acceptable to see street dogs in the neighborhood.

“In Mexico and Latin America, street dogs are fed and cared for but never brought inside,” Reese said. “Some communities need education for what is proper care for their animals.”

Reese also noted some people will keep their dogs chained up behind their houses without proper shelter. Volunteer organizations such as C.H.A.I.N.E.D. Inc., exist to educate dog owners on how to keep their animal safe and warm and also provide fencing, straw and dog houses to those who cannot afford it.

As for dealing with the stray population, Reese advocates for potential dog owners to choose adoption over designer dogs in stores.

She also has a hand in a volunteer group that spayed and neutered a colony of 35 feral cats living in the woods along Rogue River.

Reese and the other volunteers feed and care for the cats so they can live humane lives.

She said an individual’s treatment of animals reflects on their empathy for others.

“After all, the humanity of man is determined by how they treat animals,” Reese said.