More violence shelters are welcoming pets to encourage owners to come seek safety

Many of those trying to escape domestic violence asked the Women s Transitional Living Center the same question: Could their pet come with them? For years, the Orange County shelter said no. But the question kept coming. We were seeing more and more callers who would say they can t come to the shelter because they need to be with their pets, said the shelter s director, Mark Lee. Why did we make it so hard for them to come to us? Last year, the center became one of at least eight domestic violence shelters in Southern California that houses pets on-site taking in 22 with their owners in 2018. The number of shelters allowing victims to bring their pets along has more than doubled in the region in the past few years, said animal advocacy group Red Rover. The increase mirrors a trend seen among homeless shelter operators, which have increasingly started allowing pets so people needing a place to stay wouldn t refuse the help. Several hhey are realizing the support that animals bring to their struggling owners. For a lot of people, their pet is just like their child, Lee said. If they don t have their pets, they have a lot of anxiety. And the pets may need a safe place, too, Red Rover CEO Nicole Forsyth said. Pets are part of the abuse, she said. If they don t bring their pets, they are used as a anipulative tool to get them to come back or to not have them leave in the first place. And having pets around can be good for the shelter, from improving staff morale to creating a more relaxed atmosphere, Forsyth said. They have seen so many positive outcomes that far outweigh the challenges.