Saturday, April 4, 2015

Domestic abuse hurts pets too

Today -- D is for a very serious issue: domestic abuse.

When we think of that, we think of people abusing people they're supposed to love: men, women and children.

What about pets?

Sadly some abusers will target a pet to keep an abuse victim from leaving. And sometimes, they do it just to hurt that victim. Pets get abused, some are even killed.
  • 48% of survivors delay leaving an abusive situation for fear their pets will be maimed or killed.
  • 88% of pets living in domestic violence homes are either abused or killed.
Because of this, many victims will delay escaping a dangerous situation if they can't take their pet with them.

Where I live in Orlando, FL, we are extremely fortunate. We have Harbor House of Central Florida. Harbor House is one of the few domestic violence shelters in the country to have an onsite kennel for the pets of domestic violence victims.
The kennel opened in 2012.
The kennel is 100 percent privately funded. Since it's opened it's saved dogs, cats, even a guinea pig.


But they need help. That's why Saturday, April 26, we're walking to help raise awareness and money for Harbor House. 100 percent of the Paws for Peace Walk goes to Harbor House for its kennel!

We'll be talking more about it this month. We hope you will join us, or help support Team Beagle in the walk!

Lulu with friend Christine and Caleb at the 2014 Paws for Peace Walk.

5 comments :

  1. Wow, those statistics are sad and surprising! It is also sad that there are only a few domestic violence shelters that have kennels for pets. I hope many people will be participating in the walk.

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  2. I am so glad to know there's a shelter that has a place for family pets! I wish all shelters would do the same!

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  3. Love this post! I'm sure a lot of people never gave any thought to what happens when someone has to leave a dangerous home and can't take their pets with them. It would be ideal for human shelters to try and accomodate pets, for everyone's sake. Domestic abuse victims are traumatized enough without having to leave cherished pets behind and worry themselves sick over what's happening to them.

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  4. Cool post! Out dog whimpers if anyone in our house yells. He feels it too.

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  5. That's wonderful that they've built an area for pets too! I never thought about that situation before.

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