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STORY BY ALLISON JANDA • PHOTOS COURTESY OF NHS
cover story
••• getting away safely PROJECT PET SAFE PROTECTS FURRY VICTIMS
SPECIAL BONDS ARE CREATED THROUGH PET OWNERSHIP– THE MUTUAL FEELING OF NEEDING AND BEING NEEDED. ABANDONING A FURRY FAMILY MEMBER IS OFTEN UNTHINKABLE, EVEN WHEN IT MEANS REMAINING TRAPPED IN A DOMESTICALLY VIOLENT RELATIONSHIP. For those of us who are not the direct victims of domestic violence, an issue that affects millions of men and women, it might be easy to be critical of individuals trapped in a cycle of abuse. However, for victims, staying sometimes seems less dangerous than leaving, especially when another life is threatened by one’s own efforts to escape. “You’ll never see your dog again” or “I’ll kill the cat if you ever leave” are words meant to paralyze their victims. And often they hit the target, for should a victim manage to escape, their pets often have nowhere to go.
A SAFE ALTERNATIVE Shelters offer abuse victims and their children temporary reprieve until suitable housing is found. Yet before Project Pet Safe came into being, the Nebraska Humane Society regularly received phone calls from WCA (at the time the YWCA.) Women looking to escape violence in their homes were hesitant to leave without household pets, but abuse shelters could not accept animals. The Nebraska Humane Society, aware that these threats against animals in violent homes were real, responded with a carefully conceived program.
hoped to achieve. Already in place when Denise Gurss, Director of Shelter Training and Behavior, entered her role with NHS, Project Pet Safe was a need that she says was born of necessity.
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“People that abuse an animal will usually go on to abuse a human.” she says. “That’s part of the joint effort of the advocate and the Humane Society to say ‘this isn’t a good place for you or your pets. Let us help you out, let’s get you on your feet and get on with your life in a better way.’” Individuals fleeing an abusive situation don’t always have sufficient funds, so free of charge, Project Pet Safe requires only that its services are shared with other victims of domestic violence. Last year, the program required over $8,000 in funds from a budget which Gurss and her team attempt to supplement through underwriting grants. The program wasn’t created to generate income; it was made to assist individuals needing an out. “We will work with victims of domestic violence, male or female, as long as they have an advocate and are working on a program to get themselves out of the situation and not go back” she said.
CONTACT PET & ANIMAL ENTHUSIAST P.O. BOX 241611 • OMAHA, NE 68124 402-932-3522 ADVERTISING/SALES INQUIRIES sales@SpiritofOmaha.com PRESS RELEASES/GENERAL INQUIRES information@SpiritofOmaha.com Contents of this magazine are copyrighted by Pet & Animal Enthusiast Magazine in their entirety. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior consent of the publisher. ©Copyright 2013 Pet & Animal Enthusiast Magazine. All rights reserved.
PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andrea L. Hoig EDITOR/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Robert P. Killmer CONTRIBUTIONS Wendy Moore COVER MODELS Wendy Moore CONTINUED
ABBY
GETTING STARTED Knowing that domestic violence went beyond the Omaha metro, The Humane Society began researching pet safe programs along the west coast which provided services similar to what NHS
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