Appeal for public to open their hearts to pets owned by domestic abuse victims after rise in demand

Freedom which is managed by the Dogs Trust and Lifeline managed by Cats Protection both support domestic abuse victims who are seeking refuge. Research has also found that pets caught up in failing relationships sometimes come to harm due to the perpetrator's attempts to control and coerce the partner.

A domestic victim, known as Catherine, who was helped by Freedom when she was fled her home, said she was worried about who would look after her dogs.

She explained: “My husband and I had been together for eight years,” Catherine said. “At first the relationship was loving and affectionate. It was very gradually that his behaviour began to change. He would try to isolate me from my children and my mum.

"He would do things like embarrass me in public, belittle me, become angry and argumentative and make out anything that went wrong in day-to-day life was my fault.

“He retired last year, I still worked, and even though he was at home all day I would still be expected to do the household chores and look after the dogs when I came home."

“I phoned the police and they were able to come to my aid. I still felt so scared that he might come back to the apartment and so I put his things outside, he was ringing me all night but I didn’t answer.

“Once I got home, my daughter had taken all the emergency provisions that she could for me from our home. I was able to get my friends, who were looking after my dogs Bobby and Billy whilst I was away, to keep them a while longer but I knew this wouldn’t be a long-term option.

“My husband cleared all our savings and put them into his own account so I was left with nothing."

A support worker arranged a refuge place, but she was unable to take the dogs there and was advised to contact the Dogs Trust’s Freedom pet service.

“Throughout the break-up, the dogs were the ones that I was worried about the most. I felt that they were innocent in all of this and it upset me to be apart from them but it was a relief in a way. I could see how well they were looked after. It made me feel better about the situation. The support from the team was brilliant, I even got a Christmas card and present for the dogs.

“The dogs were with Freedom for around five months and I know my friends couldn’t have cared for them all that time so the project was really life-saving for me. I believe that they saved my life. I was in such a dark place and I just want to thank them.

“When my dogs came back to me, I was over the moon. It was wonderful, I had been looking forward to getting them back and they gave me lots of licks. It was like I was brought back to life again.”

This year marks Freedom and Lifeline’s 20th anniversary the last year both charities have seen an increase in demand for pet fostering services. The bodies cover all the costs involved in caring for the animals and no foster carer details are shared with the pet’s owner.

Freedom manager at Dogs Trust Laura Saunders said:  “We’ve seen first-hand the ways that perpetrators use dogs to coerce, control, physically harm and threaten as a tool to maintain power and control over their victim. This is incredibly frightening for survivors and is often aimed to leave people isolated.

“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.”