Humane Society: Pets often caught in middle of domestic violence situations

A national case is shedding light on domestic violence and the impact on pets. Animal rights advocates say far too many animals end up abused or abandoned because of their owners’ abusive relationships.

Just recently, a dog was abandoned at McCarron Airport in Las Vegas. According to a Facebook post by Connie and Miller’s Dog Rescue, a Chihuahua named “Chewy” was abandoned because her owner was in an abusive situation. The rescue posted a picture of a note left behind with the dog stating, “She didn’t want to leave me but she has no other option, my ex-boyfriend kicked my dog while we were fighting…” The dog is now at the rescue and will be available for adoption in several weeks.

Lucila Flores, Chief of the County’s Protective Order Unit, tells ABC-7 people have several options to protect themselves, including filing a protective order, which are civil orders that fall under the Texas Family Code. The order protects pets too and works to prevent violence from happening in the future. An order can prohibit a person from harming, threatening or interfering with the care of the pet.

“It is very common for abusers to threaten pets or to kidnap them or to hurt them, maim them, just to get back at the actual person they’re abusing. In fact, a lot of times, that’s sort of the pre-cursor to actual person to person violence, is that they’ll hurt a pet first. And so that provision was designed with that in mind because that is a common phenomenon in domestic violence,” Flores said.

Stephanie Karr, with the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence says using pets to harm or manipulate partners is an effective tool for aggressors.

“Both children and adults have strong ties to their pets. We understand that’s an important part of a relationship,” Karr said.

Karr says they’ve seen cases multiple times where families seek shelter for their children and pets. The shelter isn’t equipped to house animals, but they team up with the Humane Society to help care for them during their stay. Some of the center’s own volunteers also step in to foster them in the meantime.

Sometimes, owners feel they have no other option but to surrender their pet. Many of them ending up at the Humane Society, waiting for a home.

“Sometimes people are in situations where their life takes a sudden turn for the worst and they can’t care for their animal anymore,” Julie Rutledge, Director of the Humane Society said.

The Humane Society of El Paso takes in owner-surrendered animals, pets who for some reason cannot be taken care of anymore. Rutledge says domestic violence situations can be dangerous for pets in many different ways.

“Sometimes people are in situations where their life takes a sudden turn for the worst and they can’t care for their animal anymore and we want them to have an out to help the animal so the animal doesn’t end up being neglected or dumped or abandoned,” Rutledge said.

She says it’s also a red flag if a person is abusing an animal.

“Domestic violence starts with animal abuse, and so if people see that going on, in their homes, in their families, whatever, needing to be aware to get the animal in a safe place.”

Rutledge says they’ve seen people come into the shelter over the years who are in bad situations where their animals were being abused too.

“When there is domestic violence I imagine the people are thinking of themselves first, the children first and sometimes forget about the animal because it’s survival of themself and it’s hard to sometimes remember the animal life counts also,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge says pets are affected in more ways than one. A pet can pick up on the negative energy and become standoffish, shy and nervous around people. Rutledge says pets are like family too, and it can be an all-around difficult situation for everyone involved.

“When there is domestic violence I imagine the people are thinking of themselves first, the children first and sometimes forget about the animal because they are focused on surviving themselves and it’s sometimes it’s hard to remember that animal lives count also.”

For information on how you can file a protective order you can call the County’s Protective Order Unit at (915) 546-2153.