Hill's Pet Nutrition Partners with YWCA Northeast Kansas to Offer Foster Pet Program

Unique Collaboration Provides Foster Homes for Pets

In an effort to mitigate the effects of domestic violence on families with pets, Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s Women’s Network and their Caring Hearts Committee have teamed up with the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment (CSE) to coordinate a pet foster home program for families residing at YWCA CSE’s emergency shelter locations. Through this collaboration, Hill's and YWCA CSE plan to recruit volunteers who will provide safe and secure foster homes for cats and dogs of victims/survivors during their shelter stay."Thanks to the generosity of Hill's Pet Nutrition, we will be able to offer a safe and life-saving alternative to victims/survivors and their pets. This foster program will afford victims/survivors some additional peace of mind during a particularly trying time as they can rest assured that their pets are being cared for in loving, safe homes, and can focus on getting the help and support they need", said YWCA Northeast Kansas CEO Kathleen Marker.To learn more about this program or to sign up to become a foster or volunteer for this program, please contact [email protected].The YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment, formerly the Battered Women Task Force, has provided vitally important services to victim-survivors of sexual and domestic violence for over 40 years. Services include a 24-hour crisis hotline, emergency shelter, individual and group counseling, court advocacy, public education, and case management. The organization provides services to thousands of survivors each year, providing direct services to over 3,000 survivors, taking over 2,500 hotline calls and sheltering over 300 women, men and children annually in Shawnee, Jackson, Wabaunsee, and Brown counties. Learn more about YWCA Northeast Kansas at www.ywcaneks.org.

Domestic Violence and Pets by the Numbers:

• According to the CDC, as many as 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men report having experienced intimate partner violence (2010). Domestic violence is known to have detrimental effects on the victims/survivors and their children. Abusers use a variety of abusive tactics to assert power and control in their relationships. These tactics may include, but are not limited to: isolation, emotional abuse, threats, intimidation, financial abuse, minimizing, denying, or blaming others for the abuse, using one’s children against them, and physical abuse.
• Domestic violence abusers may engage in animal abuse and/or use one’s pets against them in order to maintain power and control. As many as 71% of domestic violence victims/survivors entering domestic violence shelters report their pets have been threatened, harmed, or even killed by their abusive partners (Luke, Arluke, & Levin, 1998).
• As a result of this, almost half of all domestic violence victims/survivors have reported that they have stayed in abusive relationships or delayed leaving their abusive partner for fear of their animal being harmed in some way (Ascione, 2007).