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PREVIOUS Grieving
at Work Medicaid
Managed Care Genetic
Testing Back
to School
Shattering the myths Needless
Risks
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By
Connie Goldsmith, MPA, RN
When an abusive man wants to threaten his partner, he often harms her pet. One woman reported that her battering husband nailed her dog to the bedroom door to teach her a lesson. A little boy told social workers that his daddy had skinned a live pet rabbit while he and his mother watched in horror, fearing they would be the next victims. And another woman’s abusive spouse strangled her cat. When she tried to call the police he warned, "I’ll kill this cat if I want to, and I can kill you, too." Batterers often threaten or attack the things their victims value most, said Tara Judd, former development director for New Beginnings, a women’s shelter in Dallas. "It’s a way to control his partner, and often it’s the family pet that’s injured or even killed. A woman will minimize her own injuries, but when questioned about injury to an animal, she begins to realize her abuser really is capable of violence." More than two-thirds of pet-owning women with children who turn to a shelter for help say their abusers have harmed or killed their pets, according to a recent study by Frank Ascione, PhD, of Utah State University in Logan. And a quarter of battered women delay leaving the abusive environment because of concern for their pets’ safety. Coalitions are working Across the nation women’s shelters are joining with animal welfare organizations to address the problem of animals caught up in the nightmare of domestic violence. The Humane Society has a major program under way called "First Strike," designed to educate the public about the connection between human and animal violence. An organization called Feminists for Animal Rights works to establish networks of animal foster homes in many larger cities. Animals at risk in Dallas can receive emergency shelter through "Pet Haven," a program of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals of Texas. "We have a network of trained volunteers who provide up to 30 days of foster care for pets in their own homes," said Kim Smith Conover, education manager for the SPCA in Dallas. "The volunteers pay for pet food, and the SPCA gives free veterinary care."
Pet Haven works with New Beginnings and other women’s shelters in Dallas and its suburbs to assist families in transition. "We can’t ignore these animals. We want to get the word out—we’re here to help," Conover said. "We have another program where our volunteers take their own animals into the women’s shelters and educate the children living there about responsible pet care. Many of the children are afraid of animals or have seen them abused at home." Clinicians can help Up to 35 percent of women who go to emergency departments do so because of injuries caused by domestic violence. Based on reported abuse cases and numbers of pet owners, hundreds of thousands of animals suffer and die in violent households. Healthcare professionals are in an excellent position to help those animals, and by doing so, to help the abused women who love them. But many people aren’t aware that abused women need shelter for their pets, said Nancy Stonis, RN, director of professional services for the Emergency Nurses Association. "It’s important [for clinicians] to know about available community resources so they can refer victims of domestic violence to them. Any information that helps the battered woman leave her abusive environment is valuable." "An empathetic nurse knowledgeable about the link between animal and human violence," Ascione said, "can help an abused woman overcome one more obstacle in her quest for safety for herself and her children." |
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