What About Pets?
Many battered women face the disturbing problem of their abuser also abusing and harming companion animals. This form of abusive behavior is extremely coercive. The battered woman whose partner injures or destroys a companion animal faces a double burden; overcoming the invisibility or trivializing the battering and the abuse to animals. Threats and abuse (often fatal) of companion animals by a woman's abuser occur in his attempts to establish control. Violence against the animal is a form of violence against the human who cares about that animal.
"These incidents often seem to the woman a representation of their own death." (Angela Browne, 157) The killing of pets often results in the loss of a battered woman's last hope. By harming an animal, a man who chooses to be violent succeeds at several things at once:
- It perpetuates the context of terror, so he may not need to do anything else.
- It demonstrates his power by making someone watch the torture of another is ultimate mastery.
- In harming an animal the man who batters simultaneously demonstrates his omnipotence and her complete loss of control.
- Killing a companion animal is also part of isolating the victim from a network of support. By killing an animal he may be destroying the woman's only source of comfort and affection.
- He hurts companion animals because he is enraged when he sees self-determined action on the part of a woman toward the animals.
- It works as a strong incentive for the woman to stay.
- The woman learns there are few, if any, repercussions for killing a (nonhuman) member of the family.
(Source: Sheltering the Companion Animals of Battered Women, Carol J. Adams. Feminists for Animal Rights Organization)
Seraphim Manor is dedicated to do all that is possible to allow the shelter client to "rescue" their pets too. We will welcome animals that are not a danger to others. You would be expected to be responsible and care for your animal exclusively and Seraphim Manor cannot be responsible for the care of severely damaged or sick animals. Animal shelters also often offer accommodations for rescued pets on a short-term basis while the woman is in recovery.
