Help America Protect Animals from Domestic Abuse

You love and protect your animals. Help domestic violence survivors do the same.

A national study revealed that the pets of over 71 percent of battered women are threatened, tortured, or even killed. When victims seeking shelter leave pets behind, abusers often do the unthinkable: they retaliate by torturing or killing the pets.

This heartbreaking fact makes the decision to leave an abuser often seem simply impossible.

A domestic violence protective order is a court order that can command an abuser to stop harming and contacting the domestic violence survivor. Encouraging judges to include pets in these orders is critical toward combating the cycle of domestic violence and empowering survivors and their pets.

Thankfully, pets are currently protected by domestic violence protective orders in California, Connecticut, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, New York, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and Vermont. But while progress has been made, the dire plight of pets caught in domestic violence situations is still not recognized by the law in 40 states.
To help ensure a more humane nation, pets must be protected from domestic violence nationwide. Please support state legislation to include pets in domestic violence protective orders!