The Indiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA)
is planning to open this fall the first shelter for abused women
with their pets.
This kind of shelter would be the first one in the United States.
Four shelters in the United States have programs for abused women
and their pets, but Indiana’s project is going to be exclusive for
abused women and their pets. The American Humane Association just
started a revolutionary program called Pets and Women’s Shelter
(PAWS).
Indiana is the cruelest state for animals in the United States.
Only in the first two months of this year, the number of complaints
had increased 68%. Cruelty to animals is getting out control in
Indiana.
There is a strong relation between domestic violence and cruelty to
animals.
According to the American Humane Association, “When domestic
violence victims with pets consider fleeing abusive homes and there
is no safe place to house their pets, they have little choice but:
(1) to remain in their homes and subject themselves, their children
and their pets to continued violence, or (2) to flee and leave their
pets behind. Because victims understand the extent of the harm that
their abusers will likely inflict upon their pets, if left behind,
many victims remain in violent relationships.”
ISPCA is not seeking federal funds because of its mission.
“ We were told that if we want to be a certified DV shelter, we
would have to comply with the state regulatory agency which is
usually the Department of Children & Families. We were told that
the agency likely would not certify us if we would turn away women
without pets. We will be able to open a shelter that is not
certified but that we would not have access to government funding
sources which is the primary funding stream for all shelters ” ,
says Walfredo de Freitas, director of ISPCA.
“We are going to work under the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA),
and we are going to pay our own bills.”
According to Freitas, “We need to remind our leaders - even a well
known local Rabbi, animals have the right to live and to pursue
happiness.”
