Urgent appeal for fosterers across Kent, Sussex and Surrey to support pet owners fleeing abuse
An urgent appeal has been issued for fosterers across Kent, Sussex and Surrey to support pet owners fleeing domestic abuse.
Freedom, managed by Dogs Trust, and Lifeline, managed by Cats Protection, have been supporting pets and their owners fleeing domestic abuse for 20 years.
They were set up because emerging research highlighted the link between domestic abuse and animal abuse, the organisations said.
Also, the majority of refuges are unable to accept pets.
Since the services started, more than 4,500 dogs and cats have been supported, allowing thousands of survivors to get to safety knowing their beloved pet would be safe too.
However, over the last 12 months, both charities have seen an increase in demand and have issued an urgent call for more volunteers to come forward to provide temporary foster homes for cats and dogs until they are able to be safely reunited with their owners.
Dogs Trust Freedom and Cats Protection Lifeline cover all the costs involved in caring for the animals. Photos and updates are also given to the pet’s owner to show them how their pet is doing.
Annika is one of the people supported by Dogs Trust’s Freedom scheme after suffering domestic abuse.
She described her dog Jake as her "baby" and said he was also abused by the perpetrator. She said: “There were times when I tried to leave but this would be when the levels of physical violence would escalate and end really badly for me.
"I knew that if I left without Jake, it would end very badly for him too. He made threats to say that if I ever left that he would kill Jake or let him roam out on the streets.
“I contacted a domestic violence helpline and I was given a safeguarding social worker, so both my care co-ordinator and social worker wanted me to leave straight away, but I couldn’t without Jake. I wasn’t going to leave without him. This was when the social worker told me about Freedom.
“I want to say a massive thank you to the volunteers who make this service possible. It’s fantastic what they do, it enabled me and Jake to leave a really awful situation and if they weren’t there, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Laura Saunders, Freedom Manager at Dogs Trust, said: “By offering this service, we are able to support survivors to access safe accommodation with the reassurance that their dog will be taken care of until they can be reunited.
"However, we are busier than ever and now need more volunteers to open up their hearts and homes and provide temporary foster care so that more people can flee domestic abuse, knowing their much- loved pets will be looked after until they are safely settled.”
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