Sparky, a stray dog owned by homeless man Joshua of Los Angeles, sits next to a sign asking for food on the sidewalk at the Huntington Beach Pier. Joshua rescued the dog when he found her tied to a shopping cart on the streets of L.A. It took him three days to get close enough to her to untie the rope and even longer for Sparky to allow him to pet or hold her. She has been with him for several months now and is very affectionate.

Homeless man Joshua of Los Angeles sits and talks with his friend Robert as his dog, Sparky, soaks up the sun and watches people walk by near the pier.

A man and his dog walk by Joshua, his friend Mark and his dog Sparky as Mark takes Sparky for a walk.

Joshua holds his cigarette as he sits on the sidewalk at the pier. He smokes sometimes out of "sheer boredom." Being homeless, he said, can be very dull and lonely at times. The dirt and grime on his hands and under his nails show just one aspect of how hard life on the streets can be.

Joshua jokes around with his dog Sparky by putting a pair of sunglasses on her, "You gotta have a sense of humor on the streets," he said.

Joshua, at six-foot-four-inches tall and 380 pounds, is, as he said, "a big guy." But he becomes a "big softie" with his pooch Sparky. He snuggles and kisses his small lap dog as they sit and wait for food donations on the sidewalk at the HB Pier.

Joshua, a homeless man from Los Angeles, and his dog Sparky sit and wait for food donations on the sidewalk in a front of a cafe at the Huntington Beach Pier.