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| Bella’s serious face |
[Update (1/16/11): The PAWS Program is no longer at American Humane. However, you can read up on its current status here.]
Every now and then, I get serious for a moment. Today is one of those days.
When you give your heart to a dog, you get so much in return. In addition to unconditional love, a furry friend (like my Bella) provides companionship, comic relief and so much more. Seeing my pup after a long day always makes me smile, and snuggling with her while sharing my troubles helps melt away the stress of the day.
We always talk about rescuing animals, but sometimes an animal rescues its person. I read a moving story yesterday courtesy of the lovely folks over at FIDO Friendly Blog called “The Dog Who Saved Me From Abuse.” The author tells the story of how adopting Baby (a Chiweenie – great breed name, right?) changed her life. She was stuck in an abusive relationship with no way out – at first, Baby gave her an excuse to get out of the house, and then Baby’s unconditional love helped the author survive and find the strength to leave. It’s an inspirational tale, and I hope you will take a moment to read it. Grab some tissues. In fact, you may want to have your pup handy – I know I needed a Bella hug when I finished reading.
The post also contains information about a great program that I want to share with you. It’s called the Pets and Women’s Shelters Program (aka the PAWS Program). American Humane developed this program to encourage domestic and family violence emergency housing shelters to allow residents to bring their pets with them. (This post is getting a bit long, so you can find the remainder after the jump. I have lots of info to share with you today.)
Allowing residents to bring their pets with them to these shelters recognizes both the comfort that pets provide and the importance of the human-animal bond. Further, it removes one more obstacle that might discourage people from getting out of abusive relationships – if they can bring their pets to the shelter with them, then they don’t have to worry about leaving their furry friend behind. (There is often a link between domestic violence and pet abuse – both human and furry family members may be in danger.) Keeping domestic violence victims and their pets together is an important mission – I encourage you to learn more about the PAWS Program and what you can do to help.
The United States Humane Society also has a program to help victims of domestic violence and their pets – it’s called Safe Havens for Animals. This program aims to provide temporary housing for victims’ pets when a shelter cannot accommodate them. The goal is the same – to give people and their pets a way out of abusive situations. As noted above, animal cruelty and human violence often go hand in hand. The more options out there, the better.
If you want to read more about this issue, I’ve rounded up a few other links:
- The National Domestic Violence Hotline has a great blog post entitled “Save a Pet, Save a Life,” which contains links to other useful information.
- Change.org talks about how to protect animal victims of domestic violence.
- The ASPCA also has information about the connection between domestic violence and animal cruelty.
This concludes today’s serious interlude. I promise I’ll be back with the usual dose of silliness on Friday.
