The Tuesday, March 18 edition of USA Today, the country's most widely distributed newspaper, includes a heartening article, by Sharon L. Peters, headed "A haven for abuse victims who keep their pets close;
Organizations push shelters to offer on-site boarding." (P 11b)
It tells us:
"Domestic abuse shelters have long recognized that abused families, often kept so isolated that pets are their only friends, won't leave the abuser because they know animals left behind may be harmed as a power play or retaliation. So shelters have worked with animal-welfare groups that provide temporary pet care to ensure that everyone gets out of the situation.
"Today, the emerging alternative is for domestic abuse shelters to provide on-site pet boarding. So far, fewer than a half-dozen such shelters exist, says Allie Phillips, director of public policy for the non-profit American Humane Association. But the numbers are certain to increase, as efforts are afoot on two fronts."
We learn about a "how-to" guide distributed to shelters by American Humane, as "Having a blueprint that reduces to minutes or hours the animal-care planning discussions that heretofore would probably have taken weeks..."
The need for such shelters is spelled out in a quote from Staci Columbo, who launched Noah's Animal House:
"We had the experience with several women who would arrive with a garbage bag full of possessions and a pet in tow and refuse to check in when they learned that we would find a safe place for the animal, but it couldn't stay here with them. We've known of women who lived in their cars so they could keep their pets with them and women who stayed in a shelter but kept their pet in the car parked on the street, and, of course, women who wouldn't leave their abuser because of concern for the safety of their animals. Each situation like this tore your heart out."
You'll find the full article on line at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-17-pet-boarding-shelters_N.htm
It presents a great opportunity for letters to the editor appreciative of the program and of the article covering it. Positive feedback for animal friendly stories encourages more of them. The story gives us a great opportunity to write about the link between violence to humans and to animals, or to address any aspect of the way our society treats other species.
USA Today takes letters at http://tinyurl.com/hvsuz
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read advance reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals” and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.
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Date: Tue Mar 18 20:15:46 2008
