Sat. April 5th, 2008 Battered wife's pets also abused

Hi, Everyone,
Thanks for stopping by.

I am posting a news article in its entirety that I received on Domestic Violence and abuse of pets. So many times they go together. It is lengthy, but very much worth reading. They are all innocent victims. So sad.

"Battered wives' pets are the latest victims of domestic violence" By Pam BelluckPublished: MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006BOSTON:

"Susan Walsh told Maine legislators a chilling tale in January. She said she had wanted to take her two children and leave her husband, ending a relationship she found frightening and controlling, but she was afraid he would harm the animals on their Blessed Be Farm in Ellsworth, Maine.In the past, she said in an interview, he had retaliated against her by running over her blind and deaf Border collie, shooting two sheep and wringing the necks of her prize turkeys."It wasn't just the cats and the dogs I had, it was the sheep and the chickens - I was terrified for their welfare," said Walsh, 50, who is now divorced. "I knew if I were to leave, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them. He had done it before."Experts on domestic violence say accounts like hers are not unusual. They say many men who abuse wives or girlfriends threaten or harm their animals to coerce or control the women.To address the problem, Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed a bill on Friday that allows animals to be included in protection orders in domestic violence cases.Today in Americas"Many national studies on victims of domestic violence tell us that their abusers have threatened to kill, threatened to harm or actually harmed their pets as a means of keeping the victim from leaving the relationship," said Baldacci, a Democrat. "With this new law, we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and physical violence used by the abuser to exert power and control over their victims."Maine is believed to be the first state with such a law, but the issue has captured attention around the United States as police departments, domestic- violence programs, animal protection societies and state officials become increasingly aware of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse.A new program in Columbus, Ohio, places animals of victims of domestic violence in a women's prison, where the inmates care for them. In Nashville, the city gives such pets a haven for up to 30 days, and the St. Louis Domestic Violence Pet Assistance Program finds foster homes for them."There are some batterers who are prone to using coercion and terrorizing tactics who very well know how strongly attached their partner is to the animals in her life," said Frank Ascione, a psychologist at Utah State University. "It's the dynamic of preying on the love and affection that women often have for the animals in their lives, who may be their only source of solace, their only source of unconditional love."Maine's public safety commissioner, Michael Cantara, said, "Police and prosecutors are well aware of the very close link between threats to pets and threats to family members." He cited a 2002 case in which an abusive husband had beaten the family's cats to death, buried them in the yard and threatened a similar fate for his wife and children.Karen Days, president of the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence in Ohio, said that when she worked at the city prosecutor's office, "I had a victim who was in my office and the prosecutor agreed to issue a warrant for the arrest of her partner, but she was just adamant that she be able to go home first and get her dog. When I asked why, she said, 'When I left him before, he started mailing me pieces of my cat to tell me if you don't come back this is what I'm going to continue to do.'"In homes with children, there are other concerns, Ascione said.He said that seeing animals abused makes "some kids likely to act out what they may have witnessed," while others "get even more strongly attached to their pets," which can be dangerous if the "children start trying to intervene to protect the animals."

Ariel Sabar contributed reporting from Augusta, Maine, for this article, and Katie Zezima from Boston.
Stay safe.
Becky Conrad