 |
 |
Greenhill Humane Society, SPCA |
|
This
article reprinted from the Summer, '97 issue of "The Latham
Letter" -
published by the
Latham Foundation
Promoting Respect for all Life through Education
|
|
Greenhill Humane Society, SPCA |
|
The Domestic
Violence Assistance Program
Protects Women, Children,
And Their Pets In Lane County, Oregon
By Tamara Barnes
Greenhill Humane Society, SPCA, established in Eugene, Oregon in 1944, is the leading provider of animal welfare/protection services in the Willamette Valley, and has recently expanded it's influence to the entire State of Oregon. In keeping with Greenhill's shifted focus from a reactive to a proactive problem solving approach to complex animal welfare challenges, Greenhill has created the Domestic Violence Assistance Program (DVAP).
Kimball Lewis, Executive Director of the Greenhill Humane Society, and myself, founded this program. DVAP was announced in February this year at a press conference held at the Greenhill Humane Society shelter. Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio, Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad, Captain Roy Brown and Lt. Becky Hansen of the Eugene Police Department and Jennifer Inman, Project Coordinator, Sacred Heart Medical Center Domestic Violence Project attended.
I am a survivor of domestic violence. During my incidents of abuse, my abuser used my pets to maintain control and to retaliate against me. Acts of violence were committed against my pets. The injuries that my pets sustained included broken bones, unexplained burns, broken teeth, swollen eyes, and I witnessed my abuser wrapping up my cat Tom-Tom with duct tape. Tom-Tom was taped up like a football. I was completely freaked out. I told my abuser I was going to call the police. He had this really smug look and said, "Go ahead and call them. I'11 kill this cat if I want to, and I can kill you, too."
Four months later on Christmas Day, my abuser hit me for the first time. After that happened, I called Womenspace, the local women's shelter. I found there was no community network to help me care for my pets. I was constantly worried about them, knowing that my abuser would not hesitate to hurt them to hurt me. As a result, I stayed in my abusive situation much longer than was safe for me or my pets. I felt really stuck. No matter how afraid I was, I would not leave them behind. Giving them up was more than I could stand and something I would not contemplate.
After three years, I was finally able to remove myself and my pets from danger. Overwhelmed by anger, I decided to try to find a way for other battered women to leave their abusers without sacrificing their pets too. The opportunity arose when in September of 1996, the Centers for Disease Control chose Eugene, Oregon as one of three communities to receive a large multi-year grant to finance resources for victims of domestic violence and fund community education projects. The two other cities chosen by the CDC are Boston, Massachusetts and Spokane, Washington. Programs developed in these three communities are to be used as models for the rest of the country.
I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to see if emergency pet care could be made a part of this model. I called Mr. Lewis at Greenhill to see if he could help. "This program fits right in with Greenhill's new focus," Lewis said. "The harming or killing of companion animals frequently removes a battered woman's last hope, and it causes physical injury to the animals.
The Domestic Violence Assistance Program immediately impacts the lives of victims by providing them with a resource that assists in removing them, their children, and their animals from potential harm."
It is a familiar scenario to Lewis who, before coming to Greenhill a year ago worked for the state Bureau of Animal Protection in southwest Colorado. He saw there how men used animals to control their partners.
Some of the abuses he investigated were a litter of puppies stuffed into a coffee can and set on fire and dogs, cats and horses stabbed, slashed or mutilated. "Over the past several years, we have participated in studies and have seen firsthand that the crimes against women and crimes against animals is strongly interconnected." What kind of mental capacity does it take to harm a creature that can't speak for itself?" Lewis said.
Prior to DVAP, victims in Lane County had the unacceptable choices of either leaving their animals behind, or surrendering them to county animal control. Animals with known owners that are surrendered to animal control are euthanized and not offered for adoption. DVAP's network of foster homes will take any companion animal from gerbils to horses, and extends care until victims can accommodate their pet's safety either on their own or by placing their pets with friends.
The opportunity to take control away from abusers by offering shelter for their victim's companion animals pleases Lewis. "I hope I am very unpopular with them. If we have a woman whose daughter or son had a steer as a 4-H project, we'd find a home for it. The idea is to give clients maximum mobility. Community leaders in all communities need to recognize that animal welfare and health and human service issues are both important parts of our social and economic health. Now that DVAP is a viable program, the direct benefit to health and human services can be accurately gauged." he said. In the short time the program has been available to the community, the DVAP program at Greenhill has housed eighteen to twenty animals; immediately impacting the lives of approximately ten families.
The Domestic Violence Assistance Program is in community partnership with CDC grant coalition members Womenspace, Lane County Domestic Violence Council, Lane County Victim Services, and Sacred Heart Medical Center Domestic Violence Project. Objectives of this program are not only to establish a foster- care network, but to coordinate community education by tapping into the network of other CDC coalition members, form a referral system with resources such as Womenspace, Lane County District Attorney Victim Services, law enforcement and veterinarians, and ultimately to lay the foundation for training and implementing a cross-reporting system of agencies to safeguard all life that is without protection from violence. Mr. Lewis and I hope this resource migrates to other communities. We are both available to assist anyone interested in starting a similar program. According to Lewis, "The DVAP program would be a huge success anywhere from New York to Los Angeles or any town in between."
For additional information contact: Greenhill Humane Society, SPCA, 88530 Greenhill Road, Eugene, OR 97401, Phone (541) 689-1503, Fax (541) 689-5261 E-mail director@green-hill.org
Or Tamara Barnes at: web@tamarabarnes.com
