Puppy Mills = Puppy Cruelty (closed campaign)

It’s only been a month since our ground breaking Violence Link conference and the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) is already seeing progress in how professionals care for our most vulnerable animals and humans. Your support ensures no animal is left behind when violence is happening at home.
 
On New Year’s Day, two police officers in a major Canadian city responded to a call that an animal had been stabbed. The officers determined the animal urgently needed treatment and transported the puppy to a nearby veterinary hospital, but thanks to the expert training they had received at the CFHS Canadian Violence Link Conference in December, they made the connection that a person in the home might be a victim of domestic violence.
 
The officers investigated further, and formed reasonable grounds that partner abuse had occurred.  A suspect was subsequently charged with numerous Criminal Code offences – including two animal cruelty charges.
 
We cannot name the police force, or the location, since the charges are pending before a court.  However, in part due to the knowledge gained from the Violence Link Conference, the living beings (animal and human) in this instance were spared further abuse, and perhaps a human life was spared.  We find it inspiring to see attendees helping vulnerable populations, whether human or animal, receive the support they need.
 
The outcome of this case might have been very different if CFHS had not held this conference. The link between animal and human abuse is clear!  When an animal is suffering at the hands of an abuser, humans in that family suffer as well.  Research dating back decades, and more recent research, indicated where you see animal abuse there is a high percentage that human abuse is occurring, and vice versa.   
 
If the police in this case had not looked at the family, including this puppy, holistically, the animal could have been brought back into this abusive environment. This time it was a case of animal abuse which helped their human companion receive the help they needed, the next time it could be the animal who is saved through the intervention of a social worker, police officer or educator. 
 
With your support, we can continue to advance this work in 2018 by:

• bringing together a national coalition with experts in their fields to work on the Violence Link
• pursuing opportunities to speak to professionals on recognizing the signs of animal abuse as a way to understand what is happening in families
• changing support systems, such as including animals on intake forms at women’s shelters or recording instances of animal abuse in police databases.
• ensuring that safe spaces for women and children fleeing domestic violence can include pets.

You can take immediate action to ensure that no animal is left behind to face an abuser on their own.  We must educate our politicians, the public, and Canada’s professional sectors so they know that when an animal is abused, humans are at risk and when a human is abused, animals are at risk.
 
I know you feel the same moral responsibility I do to protect vulnerable animals across Canada. Please make your gift to CFHS today so we can ensure a humane future for all living creatures. Together, we are creating a more just and kind society.

Visit our project No Animal Left Behind to learn more or to donate:   https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/no-animal-left-behind-help-them-escape-violence/

Links:

• No Animal Left Behind