The connection between animal abuse and violence toward humans is becoming more and more obvious.Often, abuse victims are afraid to leave their situations out of concern for the safety of a family pet, so it makes sense that to let domestic violence victims bring their pets with them to shelters could help more victims seek safety.
That's why Community Action Stops Abuse— CASA — is raising money to open a pet kennel at its domestic violence shelter. This would make St. Pete's shelter one of just a handful of domestic violence shelters to take in pets.
Now, when domestic abuse victims ask for help with their furry (or feathered, or scaled) family members, CASA has an ad-hoc network of boarding facilities that can pitch in on a temporary basis.
It's a good start — but, explains spokesperson Mo Venouziou, if someone calls on a Saturday night, for example, CASA "might not be able to make arrangements" for the pet right away.
This means that either the humans may be force to leave their animals behind, putting the animals in danger, or the humans may decide not to get themselves out of a violent situation, out of fear for their pets.
A study put out last year by the Urban Resource Institute — which in 2013 opened New York City's first (and only) pet-friendly domestic violence shelter— found an urgent need for more such facilities.
“Victims of domestic violence throughout the U.S. will continue to face serious risks of harm if safety options are not increased," Nathaniel Fields, URI’s president and CEO, told this reporter, then animal welfare editor at The Huffington Post.
CASA's kennel will indeed "save lives" of both people and pets, Venouziou believes.
The kennel will be on the same campus — in an undisclosed location — as CASA's 100-bed emergency shelter, which opened last summer. (Also there: a vegetable garden, a walkable labyrinth and access to legal help and medical care. Venouziou says CASA is "integrating new services all the time.")
The kennel will be air conditioned and hurricane proof so the dogs and other animals will "be as safe in the kennel as the residents are in the shelter," says John Biesinger, CASA's manager of major gifts.
As of now, the plans are for the kennel to be large enough to house about a half-dozen dogs, and 3-6 cats, plus a few members of other companion animal species. It's not a huge number, but the hope is that it'll be enough — especially with backup from the boarding facilities that pitch in now.
There'll also be pet grooming stations, a fenced dog park, an area for veterinary exams and procedures, and all kinds of other extras to make the space as useful — and safe, and comfortable — as possible.
What's left to do: finalize design plans, get permits, start construction, develop best practices, and, oh yeah, raise the remaining $40,000 it'll take to get the kennel up and running — perhaps as quickly as two months from now.
That's optimistically fast, but not fast enough for this area's domestic violence victims still having to make the impossible choice of protecting themselves or protecting their animals.
"I want it done yesterday," says Biesinger.