Unless you or someone you know is going through it, you might not know how much of an issue it is. It’s one of the things the Saskatchewan SPCA is drawing attention to.
It can be very challenging to find a place that will accept your pet if you and your family are trying to escape a violent home.
Family Ties Coordinator with the Saskatchewan SPCA, Tasha Woodhouse, says it begins with The Link.
It’s a term used to describe the inter-relationship between intimate partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse and animal abuse.
When you witness violence towards humans, there could also be violence happening towards animals and vice versa.
The Sask SPCA has been working on temporary, safe options for the pets of victims leaving a violent relationship or violent home.
Woodhouse says there aren’t many options. “Currently there are four animal safekeeping programs in Saskatchewan and three shelters that will allow the survivor to be housed with their pet, so there is definitely a lack of resources out there.”
The four animal safekeeping programs are through New Hope Dog Rescue in Saskatoon, the Regina Humane Society, the Swift Current SPCA and the North East SPCA in the Melfort area.
Because pets in many homes are considered a member of the family, this can cause challenges when trying to leave a violent situation because most intimate partner violence shelters don’t accept pets.
In 2016, a Saskatchewan survey prepared for the Sask SPCA and Saskatchewan Towards Offering Partnership Solutions (STOPS) to Violence, found that 52 per cent of survivors in this province who had pets didn’t want to be separated from them for any reason, including leaving a violent relationship, and 78 per cent of human service providers in Saskatchewan are aware of someone who did not leave an abusive relationship due to the concern for the safety of their pet.
Woodhouse notes, “Intimate partner violence rates in Saskatchewan are the highest in the country and pet ownership is quite large, so those two go together, increasing the need for animal safekeeping.”
