Pet Protectors
by Eileen Dempsy
Other times he would hit her in the mouth; once he broke a tooth and threatened
to gouge out her eyes. "I couldn't tell anyone that he threatened to kill
my pets and he threatened to beat me up," said Peggy Ann Dean, recounting
the abuse she endured at the hands of her live-in boyfriend of 20 years.
"It's something nobody can explain to you. When it happened to me, it was
such a shock."
Dean, 56, who is now living in a transitional apartment in
Although she found safety in the home of a relative, she feared for the safety
fo the pets she left behind -- her dog, GinGin and her cat, Jasmine. Her abuser
had often kicked and punched her pets as a way of intimidating and controlling
her, Dean said.
"I couldn't survive without my animals. They were the truest freinds I had
while I was going through this," she said.
One of Dean's family members, however, had heard of a free foster-care service
available for pets of victems of domestic violence.
Teresa Frabott, herself a survivor of domsetic violence, has been running the
Animals Safe Haven Love & Empower Yourself program for her
In that time, Frabott has helped 18 animals, including GinGin and Jasmine, and
28 women and children, including Dean.
Frabott provided foster care for GinGin and Jasmine for about three months
while Dean sought counseling and help at the Haven House of Pickaway County,
which operates a domesitc violence shelter.
"Teresa and Haven House helped me with my animals," said Dean, who
now volunteers by answering the phone or passing out brochures about Frabott's
program.
"I'm trying to help them out now. I'm very fortunate they helped me,"
Dean said.
A safe haven.
Frabott is allergic to animals.
Her small, three-bedroom ranch is home to her two dogs, Sinbad and Ginger, and
her four cats, OJ, Tweetie, Fluffy and Mystery, plus the four cats she is
fostering.
The foster cats, Heather, Marbles, Fruitcake and Muffin, have taken over her
office. She keeps the foster animals separate from her own so they won't fight,
she said.
She once fostered a guinea pig.
The free foster care includes a medical assessment by a veterinarian. Several
vets have offered free or discounted services for her foster animals, and she
is seeking additional help from other vets.
Frabott has incorporated the Animal Safe Haven Program as a nonprofit
organization and uses donations to help cover the costs of food, medicine and
cat box litter, she said.
Frabott also arranges visitations with the owners and their pets while the pets
are in foster care.
She also seeks others willing to be foster families for pets in her program.
"We're providing a safe haven with plenty of love for these pets,"
Frabott said.
Aiding the animals
Frabott has helped domestic violence victems from Pickaway, Fairfield and Ross
counties, said Carole Schoonover, executive director of Haven House.
"We have had victims in the past who have refused to seek shelter for
themselves because of their pet," Schoonover said. "It's definitely a
needed service. Very often the family pet is the first one to be abused."
Researchers, as well as the FBI and other law enforcement agencies nationwide,
have linked animal cruelty to domestic violence, child abuse, serial killings
and the recent rash of school shootings, said Randall Lockweed of the Humane
Society of the United States.
Lockwood directs the agency's Fist Strike Campaign, designed to draw attention
to he link between cruelty to animals and acts of violence against people.
Schoonoever siad her experience counseling domestic violence survivors supports
those findings.
"I've talked to a lot of victems who were being beaten, and if the
perpetrator couldn't get to them that way, they would slam the dog against the
wall to get to them," Schoonoever said.
One client told Schoonover that her abuser hit her dog across the eyes with a
poker, blinding the dog.
Another woman, Schoonover said, fled her abusive situation without her dog. She
went back for the dog later, only to find it had starved to death and was
frozen to the ground.
"We are thrilled with this program because we know it will help save the
lives of women and children," Schoonoever said.
Battered women in Pickaway County seeking help should call the 24-hour Haven
House hot line, where they will be screened to determine whether the shelter is
appropriate for them, Schoonover said.
"If they are, we will arrange a pickup point and tell them to bring their
pets with them," Schoonoever said. "We will call Teresa, and she will
meet us at the shelter to take the pets. We can't have pets in the shelter
because of health codes."
Once they leave the domestic violence shelter, pet owners have five days to
find housing for their pets, Frabott said. However, she is willing to work with
clients if they have difficulty finding tansitional houseing that will allow
animals.
"It's just not that easy," Frabott said. "But I guess that's
when my viewpoint as a domestic violence victim comes into play."