The online repository, Safe Havens Mapping Project, lists more than 1,200 safe havens and shelter services in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, where domestic violence victims can safely place their companion animals while seeking safety for themselves.
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A newly revised website aims to help victims of domestic violence find
safe havens for their companion animals as they seek to escape abusive
situations.
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) rolled out its
Safe Havens Mapping Project this October, in conjunction with
National Domestic Violence Awareness month.
The online repository lists more than 1,200 safe havens and shelter services
in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, where domestic violence
victims can safely place their companion animals while seeking safety for
themselves.
Studies have shown that between half and three-quarters of female domestic
violence survivors report that their abusers had threatened, harmed, or even
killed companion animals.
But the number of domestic violence shelters that can accommodate both
survivors and their companion animals in the United States is extremely
limited, with 132 nationwide as of 2019, according to research by Red Rover.
When forced to choose between leaving beloved pets alone with abusers or
staying in abusive situations themselves, up to 48 percent of domestic
violence victims choose to delay leaving the abusive situation, AWI
reported.
For Cathy Liss, the president of the D.C.-based organization, that’s
unacceptable.
“No domestic violence victim should be forced to remain in a terrifying
situation or abandon a beloved pet because there is nowhere else to turn,”
Liss said in an agency press release.
The mapping project’s listings, searchable by zip code, offer services
ranging from temporary placement at humane societies and veterinary offices
to foster homes and shelters.
About 150 of the listings allow survivors to stay with their companion
animals on-site. Other listings can provide referrals to safe places for the
companion animals to stay while survivors shelter elsewhere.
Mary Lou Randour, an AWI psychologist and senior advisor who has studied the
overlap between domestic violence and animal abuse, told Lady Freethinker
that the listings are all valuable because they give domestic violence
victims options for keeping their companion animals safe.
“The most important thing is for a domestic violence victim to know that her
pet is safe,” she said. “Safe havens for pets of domestic violence victims
may use different methods, but all accomplish the same goal. They keep the
pets of domestic violence victims safe while the domestic violence victim
also seeks safety.”
Many of the listings that can’t accommodate co-housing often can make
arrangements for guardians to visit their companion animals. None of the
listings charge for their services, Randour added.
The Safe Havens Mapping Project, accessible here, also provides safety
planning resources for survivors before, during, and after leaving abusive
situations.
AWI created its first pet database in 2011, when only partial listings of
services for domestic violence victims with companion animals was available.
The site has since been accessed tens of thousands of times each year and is
listed on the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s website.
Planning tips for survivors with companion animals, outlined on both AWI’s
and the Hotline’s websites, include creating a paper trail of guardianship —
having on hand proof of vaccinations and licensing information in the
survivor’s name — and making sure that abusers aren’t listed as a point of
contact for veterinarians or on a companion animal’s microchip records.
Survivors also should check their state laws to see if companion animals can
be included in restraining orders; as of this year, 35 states, D.C., and
Puerto Rico all had enacted legislation with provisions for people’s pets.
Lady Freethinker applauds AWI’s efforts to keep people and their beloved
companion animals safe.
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