With her back against the door, a solo mum could hear his footsteps stomping down the hall towards them.
The woman and beneficiary was trapped in her bedroom with two cats and a young child.
A temporary boarding arrangement with a distant family member had turned into a terrifying ordeal.
He had quickly become controlling and possessive and threatened to feed her cats to his untrained dogs.
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Things had been getting worse with her housemate coming into the bathroom uninvited while she was in the shower.
He would scream at her very young child.
“We’d lock ourselves in the bedroom,” the woman, who Stuff has agreed not to name due to safety concerns, said.
Stuff
The woman escaped an abusive home with the help of Pet Refuge.
She was scared to leave and felt there was no other option but to stay.
With high rates of domestic violence and pet ownership in New Zealand, the charity Pet Refuge was set up by KidsCan founder Julie Chapman to provide temporary shelter for pets while their owners were supported to leave a dangerous home.
Since opening in July 2021, it has taken in 186 pets and re-homed 131. Of the animals offered shelter, 31 were from the South Island (22 from Christchurch).
The charity would like to open a shelter in Christchurch and a second in Auckland.
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One of the woman’s cats, taken in by Pet Refuge, after she fled from abuse. The charity has given temporary refuge to 186 pets from all over New Zealand since opening just over one year ago.
For the woman, things came to a head when she returned to the house after staying overnight with a friend and told him she was moving out.
Brandishing a shovel, her house mate chased after her friend, and her elderly father.
Terrified, she sat against her bedroom door trying to brace it. Police arrived as he tried to shove the door open, allowing her to grab a few things, get her cats, and escape.
At a friend’s place in Auckland, which didn’t allow pets, she called Pet Refuge.
With her life in chaos and worried about finding a new home, she was extremely thankful to the charity for taking her cats in.
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One of her cats, who was threatened by a man she was living with. Pet Refuge is struggling to cope with higher than expected demand.
“It was one less stress off me. At the time I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I didn’t know what I was going to do with them.”
The charity’s purpose-built animal shelter in Auckland can take about 16 dogs and 20 cats for up to four months. This allows time for social services to support owners find safe and permanent housing.
Higher than expected demand meant they were always at capacity, programme manager Nikki Marchant-Ludlow says.
“Everyday we get calls. Yesterday, we got a call for another two pets. It’s really sad.”
Financial pressures generated by a rise in living costs often resulted in more family harm, Marchant-Ludlow said.
“People who are more inclined to be aggressive, are feeling a bit more stressed and that tends to come out.”
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Research shows pets in homes affected by domestic violence are likely to be harmed, physically and/or emotionally.
Proceeds from a recently launched fundraising campaign would need to go towards operating the existing shelter, but social service providers say there is enough demand for at least two more.
Costs included veterinary care and transport of animals outside of Auckland.
Apart from a $90,000 Ministry of Social Development grant during the Covid-19 response, the charity relies entirely on donations.
A staff member at Christchurch Battered Women’s Trust said there was “definitely” enough demand for a dedicated Pet Refuge shelter in the city. Of seven new women assisted in recent weeks, three had pets taken in by the charity.
“When we let them know we can get their pets to a safe place it’s massive, it makes it a bit easier to come knowing they are not going to put that pet in danger.”
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Pet Refuge workers at the Auckland shelter with some of the pets being offered temporary respite while their owners are supported to find a new home.
University of Canterbury professor and New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies co-director Nik Taylor said research over the past 20 years showed victims of domestic violence were more likely to stay in a harmful situation if they had a pet.
“They are afraid about what might happen to the animals if they leave, or they just have a connection with those animals, and they don’t want to leave them.”
Taylor said there was also evidence of victims leaving a violent home but being lured back by threats against their pets.
“They felt the only thing that would protect the animal was their presence.”
In one survey, however, abuse of pets acted as a catalyst for a domestic violence victim to take action and leave.
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Pet Refuge’s Auckland shelter is always at capacity, with higher than expected demand.
“They could tolerate the violence and abuse, if it was directed at them, but when they saw it being done to their animals they realised just how dire their situation was and so it acted as a catalyst to get them out.”
The woman’s two cats were able to live with her when she got a cabin in a caravan park, but sadly one died after eating poison and the other ran away and never returned.
A short while later she took in a stray kitten.
With the support of social services she has since been able to secure a two-bedroom flat.
David White/Stuff
Julie Chapman at her charity Pet Refuge.
She got her first cat at the age of 16. After being removed from her birth mother and put into foster care, having pets had given her huge comfort, she said.
“I need one for my mental health, they give you so much.”
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