Domestic violence may extend to pets
By: David Campbell , Staff Writer 04/20/2004

SAVE animal shelter takes part in awareness week.

Domestic abuse can be devastating to spouses and children. But
there is another victim that we don't always hear about - the family
pet.

What people may not realize is that pets in homes wracked by
domestic violence are often hurt as well. The Humane Society of the
United States as well as SAVE, Princeton's small-animal shelter on
Herrontown Road, are working to change that.

According to HSUS, animals in these situations are the silent
victims. They can be threatened, injured, even killed by an abusive
family member to control or intimidate other members of the household.
To raise awareness about this problem, the Humane Society is
sponsoring several programs as part of Animal Cruelty/Human Violence
Awareness Week, which runs through Saturday.

"When there's violence in the home, pets are also hurt by the
violent partner who is hurting the wife and children," said Barbara
Dyer, program coordinator with HSUS's Mid-Atlantic regional
office. "In a violent family anyone could be a victim, and that
includes the family pet."

According to Ms. Dyer, women often hesitate to leave a violent
spouse because they're afraid to leave the pet behind. When a person
does leave, often the domestic shelters they go to don't take animals.
"It's heartbreaking to leave animals behind," Ms. Dyer
continued. "If your partner has threatened to harm your pet, you
really need to start making plans to leave, not just for yourself but
for your animal."

HSUS's awareness week is part of the organization's First Strike
campaign, which was begun in 1997 to raise public and professional
awareness about the connection between animal cruelty and human
violence.

Each year, the campaign works with local animal-protection
agencies around the country to bring together professionals like
animal-shelter workers, social workers, law-enforcement officials,
veterinarians and educators to promote inter-agency collaborations,
according to HSUS.

As part of the week's awareness-raising efforts, HSUS is
highlighting the importance of Safe Haven for Animals programs, which
involve such collaborative relationships among shelters, agencies and
professionals.

New Jersey has two shelters specifically for animals from abusive
homes, Ms. Dyer noted.

"The first strike could be a strike against an animal," she
continued. "Animal cruelty is not just a crime, it's also a warning
that you might be harmed. There is a recognized connection between
animal cruelty and human violence."

SAVE is seeking to address this troubling fact through early
intervention with area schoolchildren.

Under a pilot educational-outreach program using grant money from
Carter Rowe Charitable Trust, SAVE's new Humane Education Program
seeks to raise young people's awareness through daycare, preschool
and after-school programs at the Trenton Area YMCA and the Lawrence
Neighborhood Service Center.

The goal is eventually to extend the program to reach young school
children in the greater Princeton area, said SAVE Executive Director
Sara Nicolls.

"You have a very narrow window to develop empathy in a child," Ms.
Nicolls said.

Dale Maski, the certified pre-K and K-8 teacher who leads the SAVE
program, has worked largely with children from urban areas, some of
whom may have little prior contact with animals.

Ms. Maski said the program seeks to teach young children
compassion and empathy toward animals so that they might grow up to
be compassionate adults.

"The best way is to give them knowledge so they gain
understanding, and thus develop a value for living things," she said.

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