Pets often factor into domestic abuse cases

New program to offer care for animals when a spouse decides to leave violent situation at home

A man was beating his family’s black Labrador puppy in the face with a shovel, and his young wife could only watch in horror as she held their infant son in her arms.

“I knew the shovel would be turned on me and my son,” said Leigh, an area resident who asked to be identified only by her first name. She said the puppy struggled to get away as the husband dug a hole in the ground, shoved the animal’s head in it and covered it with dirt.

Her spouse had abused her and their family pets for years but, after witnessing this incident, Leigh said she finally decided to leave.

Now divorced and serving as a volunteer for Safe Futures, the New London-based organization that works with victims of domestic violence in southeastern Connecticut, Leigh agreed to tell her story to raise awareness about the intricate link between pet and domestic abuse.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Safe Futures has announced that its theme for this year’s Hot Cider Walk & Rally, which will take place Oct. 23 at the Beth El Synagogue in New London, is “Safe

Homes Include Safe Pets.” Safe Futures is launching a program, called #ProtectOurPets, that will help people leaving abusive situations find a safe place for their pets. The event is part of the Power of Purple Campaign, which was founded by the Rose Conrad Memorial Fund in partnership with Hadassah American Affairs of southeastern Connecticut.

Pets in purple

“We want people to come to the walk with their beloved pets, and we want the pets to wear purple,” said attorney Sheila Horvitz, who founded the Rose Conrad Memorial Fund in honor of a client who was killed by her estranged husband in Norwich in 2004. “We’ll give out prizes to the animals who have the best purple in their costumes.”

According to the American Humane Society, between 25 and 40 percent of battered women are unable to escape abusive situations because they worry about what will happen to the pets they leave behind.

“Domestic violence is a matter of control, intimidation and psychological terror,” Horvitz said. “One of the ways (the abuser) can get control of you is by threatening to harm you or actually harming your pet. There’s the threat of being harmed if you leave, of having your children taken away from you, and now there’s this dimension of pets that is coming to light more and more. You’ll have nowhere to go, because there are very few facilities that will take your pet.”

Some women have been known to live in their cars for days at a time because they had no place to go with their pets, Horvitz said.

Safe Futures cannot allow pets at its housing facilities but is planning to offer more support for people with pets.

“We hear from hotline workers and advocates that there have been many times when someone is trying to stay in the home because they don’t want to leave their pet,” said Emma Palzere-Rae, director of development and communications for Safe Futures. “How do we navigate moving a family to a safe house and moving their pet, at the same time, to a safe location? Then there’s issues about how they can visit their pet.”

In the past, the agency has had a “hodgepodge” approach that involved encouraging clients to find a friend to care for their pets, Palzere-Rae said. Now the pets will become part of the safety plan. Safe Futures is seeking volunteers to foster animals, raising funds to cover food and veterinarian costs and thinking about logistical issues, including how to help clients get their pets’ rabies certificates and other medical records.

Leigh said her husband abused her verbally and emotionally for years and took his anger out on the family pets before he finally started battering her, too.

“It’s a test,” she said of the animal abuse. “It’s a button. It’s, ‘How far can I take this?’ The pet in this case becomes an object, an outlet for his anger.”

She said some of the dogs they had over the years became protective of her, and that there are stories of her husband’s animal abuse that are too painful to tell. One animal didn’t make it, she said.

The Labrador puppy, whose name she would not divulge for fear of identifying its new owner and location, survived the attack.

The next night, while her husband was out, she fled the home with her son and the dog. She went to a shelter, but because the dog was not allowed inside, she was forced to leave it in the car overnight. Unfortunately, she said, the puppy became timid and anxious as a result of the beating. She could not keep it with a small child in the home, but was fortunate to find a friend who provided it a healing home.

Christine Lamb, president of Connecticut Animal House, said it’s important for domestic abuse victims to know their pets are OK and important for children who are experiencing violence in the home to maintain contact with their animals.

“When you’re going through a rough time, you can always depend on your dog,” Lamb said. “Your dog will never judge you. Your dog will always love you and your dog will always be there for you.”

“We hear from hotline workers and advocates that there have been many times when someone is trying to stay in the home because they don’t want to leave their pet.” EMMA PALZERE-RAE SAFE FUTURES

Violence toward animals

State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, a longtime champion of animals, cites stories of domestic violence and animal abuse off the top of her head.

“We had one where the father took the kid’s goldfish and fried it for breakfast and said if anybody said anything, the dog was next,” she said. “In Norwich, a dad took a bunny that (nipped) one of the kids. He said, ‘This is what happens with bad bunnies and bad kids,’ and took it out to the fire pit and beheaded it.”

She said she has worked with the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and that there are some veterinarians who take in dogs caught up in domestic violence situations. “It’s essential that we pursue this,” Urban said. “There are so many women who will not leave, and the abuser uses that.”

The connection between domestic violence and animal abuse is undeniable, she said.

“If you microwave the cat or you beat the hell out of the pit bull or Lab, what do you think is going to happen next?” Urban said.

She has sponsored and supported several animal-friendly bills, including one in 2007 that allows for protective orders to cover pet safety. In 2011, the legislature passed a bill requiring animal control officers to notify the Department of Children and Families when they come across a case of animals being abused in homes where children are living.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed “Desmond’s Law,” which allows law students and volunteer attorneys to advocate for dogs and cats in animal cruelty cases.

The law is named after Desmond, a boxer-pit bull mix that was starved, strangled and killed by its owner in Branford. The abuser, who previously had been charged with strangling his girlfriend and completed court-ordered domestic violence counseling, was granted accelerated rehabilitation, a program that allowed him to clear his criminal record of the charge.

“It’s not about jail for me,” Urban said. “It’s about putting them in programs where we’re able to give them some kind of counseling. Next session, I want to make counseling mandatory for juveniles in animal abuse cases.”

Urban said that as of January 2016, the FBI was tracking animal cruelty cases just as it tracks murders, rapes and robberies. Soon there will be national data available on the topic.

“I think it will make a difference in our domestic violence cases,” she said.