I had to steal this headline from the Chron, because it really summed up what Houston Police had been doing earlier this week: a city-wide coordinated crackdown on people wanted for domestic abuse or child abuse. They caught 31 people in the pre dawn raids and had promised to pick up even more. This is all in conjunction with the City of Houston's "Men Against Family Violence" Campaign. There have been 19 family violence related deaths this year, compared with 14 during the same time in 2004.

I remembered this morning how domestic violence often includes the four legged members of the family. Abusers often use the family pet as leverage to keep the abused in the home, threatening to hurt the pet. Many times, the abusers hurt the pets. They may never lay a hand upon a human, but submitting people to the pain of a harmed pet is emotional abuse in the extreme. Many abused women (and men are abused, too) won't leave the relationship because they don't want to leave the pet behind. And you might imagine the impact of this kind of animal/emotional abuse has on children in the home.

I found a great deal of information on the Houston Women's Center website, which has a whole section (you'll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view that section) on domestic violence and pets. Women who go into shelter do have an option for emergency housing of their pets, too - the Houston SPCA has its PetSafe program, which allows temporary boarding of pets. And technically, those pets "aren't" there. They've very securely housed, and abusers who to to the SPCA to try to claim their pets aren't even told if the animals are there or not. In any case, it's a safe haven for pets in times of family crisis. You can reach the SPCA's PetSafe program at 713-869-7722, extension 127.

I don't know of any other area animal groups offering similar services. If so, let me know, so I can post them.

2 Comments

Lynn said:

I just discovered this blog. Thanks. I love it. Lynn

August 24, 2005 10:28 PM

lforonda said:

Welcome aboard, Lynn. Be sure to add your "smiley face" to the map of people who are reading. You'll find the link in red on the main page!

August 24, 2005 11:07 PM

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