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Harbor House Launches New Initiative to Help Women and Pets June 10, 2010 -- Orange County's domestic violence shelter recently got a $50,000 grant to help build a new 20-bed facility. However, these beds aren't for people who have survived abuse - they're for dogs and cats. The shelter is building a kennel because, as it turns out, nearly half of abused women will not leave their violent relationships unless they can bring their pets along. 90.7's Nicole Creston reports.
"I had two cats and they are the reason that I stayed as long as I did," explains "Emily," a survivor of domestic violence. She’s staying at a domestic violence shelter in Naples, the only one in Florida with a fully functioning kennel. She’s asked to share her story under a pseudonym for her safety. Emily has had her 2 cats since they were kittens, and they were both in their 20’s when she fled her violent 4-year marriage last month. "I couldn’t leave them," Emily says. "I could not. They’re more than like my children, they’re like my sister and my brother. We’ve lived together for so long." Not only does Emily consider her cats part of her family, she also struggles with the thought of what her abusive husband might’ve done if she left without them. "I know that they would’ve been in danger or killed," she says. Carol Wick, CEO of Orange County’s domestic violence shelter Harbor House, says she hears more and more women echoing Emily’s story, and her concerns for the safety of her pets. "We were getting about 2 to 3 phone calls a week from survivors who wanted to flee their homes, but needed to bring their pets with them, and were unwilling to leave their pets behind," says Wick, "because they knew that would mean that [the pets] would be either injured or killed by their batterer." In fact, according to a series of studies from Purdue University, nearly half of women in abusive situations refuse to leave without their pets out of fear for the animals’ safety. The studies also suggest those fears may be justified – about three-quarters of women who arrive at domestic violence shelters report their abusive partners hurt or killed their pets. "The first victim of domestic violence is usually the pet," explains Wick. "The batterer will often injure the pet or threaten the pet in a way to cause fear and control over the victim, basically saying, ‘If you don’t do what I say, this is what’s going to happen to you.’" That’s why Harbor House is building a kennel next to its shelter, so survivors can bring their pets along. For help setting up the facility, Wick turned to the experts at Orange County Animal Services. "We are very familiar with the animal shelter industry, so we understand that it’s almost like a taking a child and putting into a daycare setting," says Orange County Animal Services Division Manager Katherine Lockett. Lockett says she’s happy to help re-create her division’s comfortable, clean and well-organized facility at Harbor House’s kennel. This spring, Animal Services gave Harbor House a 50-thousand dollar construction grant for the new kennel, and today, a Harbor House team of architects and staffers is touring the Animal Services facility to get building advice. Animal Services will also provide exams, vaccinations and even transport for the animals that will be sheltered at Harbor House. Lockett notes that her agency has plenty of backup if it needs help taking care of the pets. "Harbor House notified the local Central Florida veterinarian community that they’re going to be doing this project with us, and at this point I believe that they have about 50 different clinics or establishments that are willing to provide assistance to them." Apart from medical issues, Harbor House residents will be responsible for taking care of their pets on a daily basis. They'll be able to spend as much time with their animals as they want. Then, says Harbor House CEO Carol Wick, when the women are ready to leave the temporary shelter, Harbor House will help them move on with their pets. "We help them find housing later on that’s pet-friendly, so that they can continue to stay together in their next phase of their life," explains Wick. Wick hopes the program will help hundreds of women like Emily, in the Naples domestic violence shelter. When she first escaped her abusive relationship, she was living in a hotel, hiding from her husband and concealing her cats from hotel staff. "I don’t know what I would’ve done," she admits. "I was running out of money. And I thought, okay, if I have to live in my car with these cats, I will do it." But that’s when she found out that the Naples domestic violence shelter had a kennel, and that discovery changed her life. The Orlando domestic violence shelter plans to break ground on its kennel in October. |
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