The Kindness Collective

11/09/2019

Victims of domestic abuse can now find safety for their pets as well.

07/14/2016

There are resources for survivors with pets, but they often don't know about them.

05/12/2016

Our world can be as dark a place for humans as it is for animals. Years of cruelty investigations have led members of our staff to witness the lingering terror and anguish suffered by women and men who have been abused by those who are supposed to love them. One of the most astounding …

10/20/2015

"Almost half of domestic violence victims stay in an abusive situation for fear of what will happen to their pets if they leave, said Kurt Venator, director of veterinary strategy and programs for Purina, which funded the park and donates animal equipment to people moving into the shelter. Of the people that do leave their pets behind in violent domestic situations, 70 percent said their pets have been threatened, hurt or killed by their abuser, he added."

Advocates of the program would like to see more shelters around the city accommodate people's pets. 

10/08/2015

"In 1998, a New Jersey public child protection agency found that in 88 percent of homes where the agency was providing services following physical child abuse, animal abuse had also occurred. And multiple studies show that over half the pet owners who enter domestic violence shelters say their abuser had threatened, injured or killed family pets."

"It is never just the dog."

03/28/2015

In a country where one in four women experience domestic violence at some point in their lives, concern for the safety of their pets should not be a reason to remain in an abusive situation. Yet, few domestic violence shelters have the resources to accept victims of domestic violence and their pet. As a result, many women remain with their partners to ensure the safety of their pets. This is simply an unacceptable situation, and it is why I joined my colleagues as an original cosponsor of H.R.1258, the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, which would establish a federal grant program to assist domestic violence shelters in providing emergency shelter to families with pets, and would make crossing state lines to injure a pet a punishable offense under federal law. I remain committed to ensuring the well-being of victims and their pets.

03/06/2015

http://www.aspca.org/fight-cruelty/advocacy-center/usa-urge-your-rep-cosponsor-paws-act-2015

Urge your member of the U.S. House of Representatives to cosponsor the Pet and Women Safety Act to protect victims of domestic violence and their pets.

03/06/2015

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-bershadker/protecting-all-the-victim_b_6808328.html

As many as 25 percent of domestic violence survivors have reported returning to an abusive partner out of concern for their pet. And that fear is often justified: Abusers intentionally target pets to exert control over their intimate partners. This p...

02/19/2014

From our friends at SNAAP...

02/12/2014

The Virginia House passed legislation to strengthen the state’s protections for victims of domestic violence and their beloved family pets. House Bill 972, sponsored by Delegate Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, will authorize courts to grant care and custody of a family pet to petitioners of protective orde...

02/08/2014

"The person that's doing the abuse may hurt the animal as a way to say 'if you leave me or do anything I don't like I will hurt the dog.'"

A Chatham County puppy that survived an attack by one of her owners is out of surgery and will soon need a new home.