Providing assistance to the pets of domestic abuse survivors of northwestern North Carolina while their owners are transitioning into a new stable home.
Domestic abuse survivors have difficulty leaving their situation when pets are involved. Most of the human shelters have limited availability and funds to take in pets. High Country Paws, Inc. provides boarding and foster care to these pets until their owners are in a more stable situation and can be reunited, in order to remove one of the obstacles involved with survivors leaving an abusive situation.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner, 71% of women in domestic violence shelters report their abuser threatened, injured or killed a pet and 52% of survivors in shelters leave their pets with their abusers. In “Pets as Pawns” a paper published in Psychology Journal in 2012 Michael Roguski details how nearly half of victims stay in abusive situations rather than leave their pet behind or delay leaving an abusive situation because they fear what will happen to their pets. The ASPCA states that as many as 25% of survivors will return to the abusive situation because the abuser is using the pet as a means to get the person back.
High Country Paws, Inc. coordinates and pays for 1-2 weeks of boarding and updating basic medical care until an appropriate temporary foster family can be found to take care of the pet until the owner is more stable. High Country Paws, Inc. pays for all expenses for the foster family to care for the pet.
References
- Truman, J.L., & Morgan, R.E. (2014). Nonfatal domestic violence, 2003-2012. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
- Black, M.C., Basile, K.C., Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., & Stevens, M.R. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Bershadker, M. (2017, April 26) Domestic violence awareness month is about protecting people and pets. https://www.aspca.org/blog/domestic-violence-awareness-month-about-protecting-people-and-pets
- Roguski, M. (2012). Pets as pawns: The co-existence of animal cruelty and family violence. Auckland: RNZSPCA