Safe Harbor expands to pet services

Safe Harbor is now expanding their services to include pet care by partnering with BestyBnB to provide animal shelter for pets for those that are trying to leave domestic abuse situations. Survivors will not have to worry about leaving their pet with their abuser and can know and be comforted in the knowledge that their beloved pet is safe and out of harm. 

“We realized the need for these services when we had one particular client who was trying to leave an abusive situation and had several pets that couldn’t come with. She had places to go but they couldn’t take pets and this happens a lot,” said DeAnne Rader of the Webster County Victim Assistance Program in Marshfield. “We didn’t have a network of people to take them and we had our own situations and could not take them in our own homes for whatever reasons.” 

This is what caused DeAnne Rader and the other members at Webster County Victim Assistance Program to look into situations surrounding this need.

According to Rader, a lot of times a survivor won’t leave an abusive situation if they know they have to leave their pet behind. BestyBnB, an organization that the Webster County Victim Assistance Program is partnering with, works similar to AirBnB, but its guests are pets. 

Caregivers can apply to take in animals and pet owners will be partnered with them. One of the plus sides to this program is that the caregiver and survivor never meet, any communication such as to check up on the pets will be done anonymously. 

“Through the website they can communicate anonymously, they can send pictures and stuff like that so they know their pet is doing alright,” she added.

To become a caregiver, there is an application online at Bestybnb.com. As soon as more people apply and become accepted as caregivers, Webster County Victim Assistance Program can start offering this service. Caregivers are allowed to set a rate per night, this cost is handled by the Webster County Victim Assistance Program. 

Anyone can utilize BestyBnB whether they are experiencing a domestic violence situation or just need a place to board their pet while traveling out of town. Others can help alleviate the costs for the survivors by donating to the program to sponsor a pet stay. 

“We hope that when people sign up to use this service, they will choose to donate their funds to help those who are in a domestic violence situation.”