Help Families in Abusive Situations
An often overlooked and misunderstood aspect of animal abuse is its connection with domestic violence.
Domestic Violence and Animal Cruelty from United Animal Nations lists many resources concerning safe havens. United Animal Nations (UAN) offers assistance for victims of domestic violence and their companion animals through our Crisis Relief for Individuals grant program. Specifically, this program offers financial support to enable domestic violence victims to leave their batterers. The program can help with the cost of veterinary care, transportation and boarding.
The Link® Between Animal Abuse and Family Violence from the American Humane Society describes the link between domestic violence, violence in the community and animal abuse. This resource from American Humane offers many sources of information on dealing with this problem.
Very often women don't leave abusive relationships for fear of what the abuser will do to their pets. Often there's nowhere to take the pet.
Foxy: I'm not sure how it happened, but I wandered around the Colorado mountains by myself for a few days. I wore a collar but no tag. This is how I looked when my humans found me. For several years, I was afraid of sacks and car keys.
The Humane Society of the US sponsors a campaign called First Strike: The Connection Between Animal Cruelty and Human Violence. You'll find information about animal cruelty and child cruelty, animal cruelty and elder abuse, and more.
Is your shelter listed in the Online Directory of Safe Havens for Animals™ Programs? If you provide a safe haven, go to Safe Haven for Animals (TM) and see the directions for adding your information. To set up temporary sheltering for animal victims of domestic abuse, download the resource from HSUS Starting a Safe Havens for Animals™ Program.
Find out about Organizing a First Strike Workshop in Your Community. Learn how to "raise awareness about the connection between animal cruelty and human violence in your community, or having a speaker from The HSUS present at a conference."
More and more communities are establishing support and homes for pets of individuals and families facing homelessness and abuse. Read about the Pet Assistance Network of Topeka (PANT) which places their pets in licensed shelters until they can be reunited with their owners.
