Help For Pet Owners Fleeing Family Violence
The Pet Safekeeping Program is dedicated to helping victims of family violence leave abusive situations by providing temporary care for their pets. The Pet Safekeeping Program bridges the gap between animal services and human services to maximize the effectiveness of family violence prevention.
Many studies, including an Alberta SPCA study released in 2012, have shown individuals may delay leaving a domestic violence situation out of concern for the safety of the family pets.
Key findings from the Alberta SPCA study showed:
- 59% of abused women with animals were afraid to seek help out of concern for their animals,
- 36% of abused women with animals reported that their abuser threatened or harmed their animals,
- 85% of threats against animals were carried out,
- in cases that involved children, as well as threatened animals, 85% of women reported the children witnessed the threat or harm to the animal,
- in half of those cases, it was the child’s own pet.
How to Access the Program?
The Pet Safekeeping Program collaborates with over 40 family violence agencies across the province. In addition, the Pet Safekeeping Program has partnerships with over 30 animal care organizations.
Call: 780-447-3600 ext. 3750
Email: petsafekeeping@albertaspca.org.
Educational Outreach
Through our educational outreach we want to introduce human services professionals to topics that are critical to supporting their clients. 41% of Canadian households have at least one dog and 38% of Canadian households have at least one cat. Those statistics are comparable for other pet species as well. These numbers show that a large proportion of clients accessing human service supports will have pets, even if they do not disclose it.
It is up to the human service professional to ask the right questions. Many pet owners in crisis are unable to focus on their own needs until the needs of their pets are met. Our goal is to build knowledge and empathy through in-person presentations or through resources so that pet owners in crisis are given access to appropriate support.
If you are interest in learning about our programs, please contact us at petsafekeeping@albertaspca.org.
