The link between domestic violence and hurting animals has long been established, yet services to help survivors escape an abuser with their pets, are limited.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, only 24% of domestic violence programs in the U.S. offer a safe way for both people and pets to leave an abuser.
A local nonprofit, Bay Area Turning Point in Webster, wants to end domestic violence for survivors and their loved ones, including the four-legged kind that is often left behind.
“We have to look at it as a community -- how do we support someone needing to flee violence who has a pet and this is an unsafe environment for both the person and the pet?” said Wykesha Dixon of Bay Area Turning Point.
Dixon serves as deputy director of Bay Area Turning Point, and she says many survivors choose to stay in abusive relationships because they have nowhere to take their pet, and they fear their abuser will hurt the animal if they leave.
“So imagine having to leave your children behind and wondering what’s going on -- are they safe? Are they okay?” she said. “That’s the same thing that’s going through a survivor’s head that’s having to leave their pet and loved one behind. Are they safe? Are they going to harm them to get back at me?”
Research shows:
- Nearly 50% of domestic violence survivors have chosen to stay with their abuser to protect their pets.
- 71% report their abuser have threatened, injured, or killed family pets.
- 87% of incidents involving animal abuse are committed in front of their partners for the purpose of revenge or control.
Jasmine O’Keefe with League City Animal Services helped lead the “Safe Paws” pilot program when Bay Area Turning Point first set out to find a solution for pets.
“It was amazing to watch it,” she said. “I was a part of the development, to watch it develop and grow.”
O’Keefe recalls a mother fleeing an abusive partner, and she had nowhere safe to take the family dog.
“And she had to do it with her kids. She was actually trying to owner-surrender the dog,” O’Keefe said. “And that’s when I’m gonna tear up. I’m so bad at this. I got with my admins and the supervisors and we helped her. We said, we’ll take her in ourselves if we have to. We helped her. It was a big deal.”
Their pilot program helped shape other animal shelter partnerships, including the one Bay Area Turning Point has with its primary shelter partner, Webster Animal Services. Within hours of getting a call from a survivor, emergency shelter can be arranged for a pet. It’s all part of the extremely important process of making a plan, so their survivor and all their loved ones can escape an abuser in the safest way possible.
“That’s why we tell survivors, let’s plan it out. Call agencies like ours,” O’Keefe said. “Our crisis hotline is 24/7, where we can help you plan and think through what that looks like for you and even your pet to escape safely.”
From emergency shelter to case management services, Bay Area Turning Point is here to help you or someone you love take that first step to living a violence-free life.
For more information on Bay Area Turning Point, go here or call their 24/7 hotline at 281-286-2525.