#MeToo, domestic violence & our pets. #sponsored

It's been just a handful of days since the hashtag went viral across social media, and Facebook reports almost half their users know someone who shared a #MeToo story about sexual harassment.
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FCC Disclaimer: While we were compensated for the time it took to tell you about Purina's partnership with the Urban Resource Institute, the fee did not influence our opinion in any way. We fully endorse the URIPALS initiative and believe this content to be relevant to our readers. All sponsored posts will always reflect our honest and unbiased opinions. The opinions stated here are our own.
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Think about it.
There are more than 1 billion people active on Facebook.

That's almost 500 million people who know someone who has been harassed, possibly abused.
That's a staggering number.

Let me introduce you to another number.

Did you know that 48% of domestic violence victims stay in abusive relationships out of fear of what would happen if they left their pets behind?

I've been there. I know the feeling.

I recall sitting at the top of the stairs, hearing gunshots being fired into a basement wall, knowing that I could not escape my situation ... and leave my cat behind. I have no doubt my cat would not have survived.

That was a lifetime (and a previous marriage) ago. I'm one of the lucky ones: I had a support structure, friends who took me - and my cat - in. My cat and I went on to forge a life on our own, and then we met the wonderful man I'm now married to, the cat dad to Maxwell, Faraday & Allie.

There are many, many people who aren't so fortunate.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and it's the perfect time for us to deepen our understanding of these issues, and share resources with those who might benefit from them.
One such resource is the Urban Resource Institute.

The Urban Resource Institute in New York is one of the very few domestic violence shelters in the United States that is able to accommodate victims and their pets.

Several years ago, Purina partnered with URI and its People and Animals Living Safely (URIPALS) program. By supporting the PALS initiative, Purina is helping to make it possible for URI to expand.

One of URI's stated expansion goals includes publishing a manual to educate domestic violence agencies. It's the Urban Resource Institute's hope that shelters everywhere will follow URI's example and create their own programs like URIPALS, so that fewer families will be forced to choose between their pet’s safety and their own.

We're lucky in Kansas City - one of our shelters, the Rose Brooks Center, has done exactly that: they built an in-house pet shelter so abused families seeking shelter aren't separated from their pets.

Purina has created this infographic you can print, email, and share with others to help spread awareness of this need.

If you know of an agency in your area that has not yet implemented a plan that includes victims' pets, please share it with them. Let them know that survivors of domestic violence should be able to shelter together with their pets in a safe place as they recover and heal.
Let Purina know you appreciate this initiative. You can like, share and follow them on:

Twitter • Instagram • Facebook • Purina's Pet Welfare/UNIPALS page

 

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence,
please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline
for support at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
They’re available 24/7/365.

 

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Blog the Change: Pets are Domestic Abuse Victims, Too

We believe in the power of change, which is why we enthusiastically support Blog the Change. 
And we pray that today's post gets the word out so that there is, indeed, change on this issue, worldwide.

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Early in 2012, a local story made national news: it was about a Great Dane named J Matthew. When J Matthew saw his mom beaten with a hammer, he thrust himself between her and the abusive man.

As a result, they were both nearly killed. J Matthew’s human is certain that without his brave intervention, she would have surely died.

J Matthew’s owner beat the odds – she left the abusive relationship. One of the reasons she was able to do so was due to a new policy at the Rose Brooks Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

The shelter allowed her to keep J Matthew with her, once he was released from veterinary care. Rose Brooks is the only shelter in the Midwest region that will allow victims to bring pets with them.

Many battered women refuse to leave abusive situations because domestic violence shelters will not make room for their beloved pets.

In fact, according to nationally renowned animal and family advocate attorney Allie Phillips, almost half of domestic violence victims delayed or refused to leave the abusive situation out of fear they would have to leave their animals behind. This makes perfect sense when one considers that a pet is a source of comfort and unconditional love during a time of great distress.

As we well know, our pets are family members. To leave without them under any circumstances is unthinkable. In this, a situation where a pet may be a touch-point of sanity in a world gone crazy-wrong? You can see why a victim might even choose homelessness over seeking assistance if that shelter won’t take their beloved friend in, too.

The Animal Welfare Institute hosts a list, searchable by zip code, of shelters in the U.S. that are considered Safe Havens.

A Safe Haven, by their definition, is “a domestic violence shelter that either provides sheltering services for the animals of domestic violence victims, has a relationship with an entity that does, or provides referrals to such facilities.”

Sadly, most of these do not have on-site facilities to care for a victim’s pets.

When they do, it’s big news. Just a few months ago the Urban Resource Institute launched New York City’s first ever co-sheltering program to enable domestic violence survivors and their pets to reside together in shelter. The project is currently in a six-month test.

 If your area does not have a system in place, there is a resource available to help. And this is the focus of today’s Blog the Change:

Allie Phillips has created the first and only global initiative that provides resources to shelters to help them get to the place where they, too, can offer what Rose Brooks and the Urban Resource Institute now provide: housing for families and their pets.

The program is called SAF-T, Sheltering Animals and Families Together, and they offer a free start-up manual for any organization interested in providing this service to families fleeing abuse.

Please join us in spreading the word. We hope in the near future to be able to report that many other places have followed the ground-breaking work of these fine people and organizations.

Kudos to Allie Phillips, and to Rose Brooks (and Wayside Waifs, the no-kill shelter that worked with Rose Brooks for over a year to help make their pets program a reality). And we’re crossing our paws that the six-month trial in NYC becomes permanent.

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Sources:
Allie Phillips
Washington Times
Ohio Domestic Violence Network
Animal Abuse/Domestic Violence Fact Sheet
Urban Resource Institute
The Rose Brooks Center

Photos:
Great Dane photo courtesy Marcia O’Connor via Creative Commons 3.0 license