Bay Area non-profit argues pets can be victims of domestic violence too

Non-profit aims to keep domestic violence with pets

FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis reports on Bay Area animal advocates that have launched a non-profit to help domestic violence victims stay with their pets even as they seek help and enter shelters.

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. - Bay Area animal advocates have launched a non-profit to help domestic violence victims and their pets.

Animals are known as the silent victims of domestic abuse. Oftentimes, their owners, who are also victims, are put in an impossible situation.

A dog in an animal shelter.

"Oftentimes, abusers are using those pets as a means to control and to intimidate," said Kelly Sinn, CEO of Sunrise of Pasco County. "Individuals sometimes choose not to leave their abusive relationships because they have nowhere to bring their pets."

Their other option is to escape to a domestic violence shelter with the pet, only to learn that only 17% of DV shelters nationwide accept pets.

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Andria Gibbon, Protecting Paws For Life Founder, said, "There’s 73 recorded domestic violence shelters in the state of Florida, and only 18 right now are accepting pets."

Sometimes, their only choice at that point is to surrender the pet.

Kelly Sinn, the CEO of Sunrise of Pasco County, with a dog.

Andria Gibbon, Protecting Paws For Life Founder, with a taken-in dog.

to an animal shelter. Advocates said animals in these cases often suffer from PTSD, which can put them at the top of the shelter's euthanasia list.

Through her non-profit Protecting Paws For Life, Gibbon hopes to bring scenarios like that to an end.

"It just kind of clicked that there aren’t many opportunities for victims of domestic violence to be able to leave with their pets," Gibbon said. "I want to make it easier for the domestic violence shelters to be able to take pets."

So far, Protecting Paws For Life has worked with two Bay Area domestic violence shelters.

One of them is Sunrise in Pasco County. Its team has helped the shelter build its animal sanctuary using a "fear-free design" method.

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Protecting Paws For Life, Vice President Debbie Houk said, "You use specific colors which are calming to the animals. You. Use music, which is common to the animals."

"You want them to know that they aren’t being left all by themselves either, so keep them with an owner’s blanket or shirt or something with them," Sinn said.

The non-profit has also helped Sunrise fund basic veterinarian care for victims.

"Food, flea and tick medicine, things like that. Collars and leashes and toys and beds," Sinn said. "There are so many things that they’re able to help us with that we didn’t even think about on such a larger scale."

Saturday, Jan. 18th, Protecting Paws For Life will host its "Launch Pawty" at Anecdote Brewing Co. at 321 Gulf Blvd, Indian Rocks Beach, from 4 p.m.-7 p.m.

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