By Jayme Kunze
The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is leading the charge to help the victims of domestic violence with a new tool: a national, searchable database of shelters that also take in or find safe housing for family pets.
AWI Senior Advisor for Animal Cruelty Programs Mary Lou Randour, Ph.D, said that the list is the first of its kind that identifies and connects shelters with animal services.
When asked why certain regions, such as the majority of Eastern Connecticut, appears to be without animal safe havens, Randour said that the tool is also meant to raise awareness about the need for such programs in underrepresented areas.
"The next wave of the project is to get the news out to communities on how to start safe havens," Randour said. "So far they've sprung up organically," she added. Randour said that she has seen a large increase in safe haven shelters over the last decade, as communities have realized the pressing need to provide for abused animals and their worried families.
State Representative Diana Urban (D-43rd Assembly District), who has drafted legislation that made Animal Control Officers and DCF employees mandatory reporters of suspected animal abuse, explained that domestic violence victims are sometimes reluctant to leave dangerous situations if they can't find shelter for their pets.
"Abusers use pets as collateral," she said. "It's about control, and it's about power."
According to "A Common Bond," a guidebook on addressing child and animal cruelty that Randour co-authored, 88 percent of families under state supervision for physical abuse of children also experienced animal abuse.
Another study quoted in the handbook found that 32 percent of mothers experiencing abuse witnessed their child harming an animal, most likely due to seeing domestic violence in their home.
Connecticut communities interested in providing these services for domestic violence victims can find information on starting up a safe haven on the AWI website.
A map of the identified Connecticut safe havens is available above.
The AWI is a non-profit created in 1951 to lessen animal suffering, according to its website.