A safe place to stay

Editor’s note: This article mentions domestic violence.

Six metro-based organizations are rounding up animal lovers who can foster a dog or a cat caught in a domestic violence situation for up to 72 hours. Fosters will be provided food, a fostering help hotline, toys and anything else needed to take care. People just need to have space their home for a short-term four-legged guest.

“What we’re really looking for are people who are willing to be a 72-hour foster at the drop of a hat,” said Carrie Openshaw from The Bond Between. “[So] we can reach out to a list of people and say ‘Hey, who can take this dog or this cat into your home for the next 72 hours until we can find a long-term foster?’

“We’re of course looking for longer-term fosters as well ... and we do also need some help with transportation, getting these animals from shelter environments or from the survivors [of domestic violence] to the foster homes and to the rescues when the timing’s right.”

Research shows that domestic violence and pet abuse often happen together.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, people who abuse animals are more likely to be arrested for violent crimes or engage in domestic violence.

“Animal abuse is one of the primary predictors of domestic violence by men against women,” the report states.

Abusers might use the animals to exert power and control their partner.

Unfortunately, most domestic violence shelters are not set up to house animals, and 40% of people experiencing domestic violence stay with their abuser because they can’t take their pet with them. Abusers may threaten to hurt or kill the pets. Women in shelters are 11 times more likely to report their partner has hurt or killed a pet than women who have not experienced intimate partner violence.

FOSTER NEEDS

The new Minnesota Pet Foster Coalition is made up of the Animal Humane Society (with locations in St. Paul, Woodbury, Golden Valley and Coon Rapids), The Bond Between (locations in Minneapolis and Minnetonka), Cornerstone (locations in Bloomington, Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis), Women’s Advocates in St. Paul, Four Winds Connections in Randolph, and Tubman in Minneapolis. The coalition is seeking to build a network of emergency fosters and make it easier for people in crisis to find help.

Openshaw said The Bond Between has already been offering “respite foster care” for pet owners sheltered by Women’s Advocates. However, finding pet fosters can take time, and the new coalition is designed to provide emergency foster care.

“One of the big gaps we see is that immediate need for a foster home in that first 72 hours,” Openshaw said. “People are generally fleeing a violent situation without a lot of notice. In our system as a foster-based rescue, we don’t have a large animal holding facility. And so we rely on having those open foster homes.”

In the future, Openshaw said co-sheltering would be best.

“People being able to bring their pets with them into the place that they’re staying is ideal,” Openshaw said. “Unfortunately none of the shelters that we have in the metro area are built for that. They don’t have capacity for that. But I think that’s a goal of almost every single one of the agencies that we work with.”

Tabitha Eward from the Animal Humane Society said a future expansion for the coalition might be to foster pets in other emergency situations. For now, the short-term emergency pet fosters are only taking animals in emergency domestic violence situations.

People who want to foster pets should go to tinyurl.com/applymnpc .

For those who are experiencing domestic violence and have a pet, Openshaw recommends they call the Women’s Advocates hotline at 651-227-8284 first.