PAWS: Share the Story campaign supports survivors of domestic violence

Each year, nearly one million animals are abused or killed in connection with domestic violence. Bayer Animal Health is making strides to help lower this statistic by raising awareness through PAWS: Share the Story.

This campaign supports domestic violence survivors through the donation of $60,000 to three domestic violence shelters across the country that support pets involved in domestic abuse.

Almost half of abused women say they are unable to escape abusive living situations, because they worry about what will happen to their pets should they leave. Abusers use pets as pawns, and survivors tend to remain in abusive relationships out of concern for the welfare and safety of their pets.

There are too few domestic violence shelters nationwide that are equipped to house and care for pets. This results in survivors having to choose between a life without their pet, or a dangerous living situation for both the survivor and their beloved pet.

Bayer understands the importance of creating awareness about this issue and has been an avid supporter and advocate of Rose Brooks Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Rose Brooks Center is an award-winning domestic violence shelter providing a robust list of care services including: prevention programming, crisis prevention, life skills development and other supportive and therapeutic services. In 2012, with help from Bayer, Rose Brooks Center became the first domestic violence shelter in the region to welcome four-legged family members, and the therapeutic benefits pets have on abuse survivors became abundantly clear.

Bayer's donation of $50,000 helped to fund the creation of Paws Place, a pet shelter co-located on Rose Brooks' facility, providing a safe place for survivors of domestic abuse to spend time with their pets and heal together. Since its creation, Bayer has supported Rose Brooks Center every year by providing funding for pet care costs and facility maintenance.

Now, Bayer is extending support to other domestic violence shelters that understand the importance of providing co-located pet facilities for survivors to heal with their pets. This support is an extension of Bayer's "PAWS: Share the Story" campaign to help create awareness of this issue.

This year, Bayer is giving $20,000 to both Noah's Animal House, located in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Urban Resource Institute, located in New York City. These organizations have campuses equipped to heal both the survivors of domestic violence and their pets.

Noah's Animal House is a full-service boarding facility on the grounds of the largest women and children's shelter in Nevada, The Shade Tree Shelter. In 2005, a heartbreaking story of a woman escaping her battered life with her pet inspired the shelter to remove their "No Pets Allowed" sign, and Noah's Animal House was built two years later. After eight years in operation, Noah's Animal House has cared for and protected over 1,000 pets for the women and children at the shelter.

The Urban Resource Institute (URI) supports more than 1,400 clients each year, offering therapeutic, counseling and educational services in both English and Spanish. In 2013, the URI People and Animals Living Safely (URIPALS) program was launched on-site at URI's Urban Women's Safe Haven and Urban Women's Retreat shelters. URIPALS is the first co-sheltering program in New York City, and one of few offered nationwide, that is equipped to house families and pets together, preserving their welfare and safety.

To learn more and watch a short video about Bayer Animal Health's "PAWS: Share the Story" campaign, go to http://www.petandwomensafety.com.

Image credit: PRNewsFoto/Bayer