<bg sound="music/jewel_hands.mid"loop="infinite"> A.S.H. PROGRAM

FRABOTT SHELTERS FOUR-LEGGED SURVIVORS
Teresa Frabott knows how much a pet can mean to someone-especially someone in emotional pain.
Many women are afraid to leave their abusive home environment because they don't know what will become of their pets, Frabott said. She describes herself as a "domestic violence survivor" and her animals as a "sanctuary" during times of personal crisis.
As founder of A.S.H.( Animal Safe Haven), Frabott arranges foster care for pets of victims of domestic violence who need to leave their homes and stay in a shelter. Recent studies and media coverage have shown a link between animals and domestic abuse, and the statistics are chilling.
A national study conducted by Frank Ascione, Ph.D. at Utah State University, showed that 65% of children in domestic violence shelters speak of their animals also being abused.
"If an animal is being abused in a home", Frabott said, "you can bet there's domestic abuse going on. Batterers prey on the powerless."
Typical of animals from abusive homes, one cat taken in had not had medical treatment for eight years. The abuser usually controls the money and will not allow veterinary treatment for the pets.
"It's a way of maintaining control of his victims," Frabott said, noting that often the victim does not have a car or the means to get the animal needed medical care.
"These women love their animals," Frabott said. "They are there to lick her face after an episode. Her animals don't judge her or tell her she's fat, ugly or lazy."
Frabott started the ASH program in April 1998, and has since helped 28 women and children with foster care for their pets. Frabott was not prepared, however, for the complexity of the paperwork the endeaver requires. She has applied for non-profit organization status and expects it to be finalized in October.
"People tell me, 'you need to get a grant'. Well, I only have a high school education, and like anybody who lacks higher education, I need help walking through the process," Frabott said.
Asked how the program is funded, she answered with a laugh, "mostly by me." She said she also has received donations of cash, business equipment, computer services, and some discounts on veterinary care. When animals are taken in for safekeeping, they stay at Frabotts home in Wwilliamsport, or other foster homes of volunteers. "Right now, I have four cats in my spare bedroom," she said. These pets don't include four cats and two dogs of her own.
"I'm allergic to cats and dogs, isn't that a hoot?" Frabott said, "I just suffer, but I'm happy."
Here are Teresa Frabott's answers to THE HERALDS list of "Snapshots" questions:
HOW SHE CAME TO THE JOB:
"I was vice-president of the policy council for Head Start and went to a luncheon where I met Carole Schoonover," Frabott said. "I approached her with some information from the United States Humane Society and asked her who was doing foster care for pets of the (domestic violence) victims. Her reply was 'No one: we need someone.' She proceeded to tell me about an elderly woman who was being severely beaten and would not leave because she wouldn't leave her cat."
MOST SATISFYING PART OF JOB:
Frabott says it's seeing the faces of the kids and women when they move into a new home after living in a shelter and knowing they have their animals back. "The kids had to leave their school, their toys, their friends, and their own homes, because of domestic violence. I feel I'm giving them the opportunity to keep one thing, and that's their best friend. I feel that gives them hope."
MOST FRUSTRATING PART OF THE JOB:
"Getting people to understand that this is NOT just an animal issue," Frabott replied. "This is removing children from a violent environment and saving their lives and those of the mothers, along with the pets. We need to toughen the laws for animal abuse, especially here in Ohio. I was pleased to see there have been prosecutions in Pickaway County, of animal violence, but they're going to get just a slap on the hand under the present animal abuse laws."
This story appeared in the "CIRCLEVILLE HERALD"
Written by: LINDA BLAINE

PETS GIVEN SHELTER FROM THE STORM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Teresa Frabott wants to save the animals. She says pets are often the first victims in domestic violence and they are the reason many women stay too long in abusive situations. They don't want to leave their beloved pets behind, but they can't take them along when escaping to a shelter. Frabott poses a solution: animal foster care.
"I can remember times when I was a child, I'ld sit outside and cry. My poor hampsters had to sleep in a trash can that night at a neighbors house because my dad ripped the phones out of the walls and was beating my mother."
"Animals are victims of domestic violence also. And usually they (abusers) will hurt the animal prior to hurting the child or the woman. Or they kill the animal. I realize there is a great need for the service that I provide."
She believes that having foster homes available to take in pets for women and children who stay at Haven House Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence would help more women make the decision to seek shelter.
Frabott, who takes care of animals, at Dr. Charles Hardin's Brookhill Clinic, is preparing to take in animals at home and is also recruiting others to help. She has a carrier and spare bedroom for house pets such as cats and gentle dogs, and she has found a volunteer to take care of birds and another to care for reptiles.
"My pets are like my kids. And that's how alot of people feel. My goal is to have a system where I would pick up the animal from the women's shelter, bring them here to (vet) to be assessed, and place them in a foster home."
Once at Brookhill, the animals will be examined, said vet tech Carol Lederstein. "We'll give them complete physicals to make sure they are healthy, and to make sure they are not aggressive and will not be a problem to the foster home. We will also vaccinate them and make sure they are worm-free."
Frabott is also working with the Humane Society to have animals spayed or neutered.
"These women have been through a traumatic experience. The last thing they need is another litter of pets to take care of."
The cost of shots, medication or any other treatment comes from Frabott's pocket, with a discount from the vet. She is also working with a pet nutrition consultant, to properly care for pets with specific nutritional needs. Most important, though, is the love and attention she showers on the animals.
"I love them, even the ones that are crotchety or scared. They're scared for a reason, they are not used to being in this setting."
Although no one has called Frabott for assistance with an animal yet, Frabott is sure the calls will come when the awareness of the service grows in the community. The idea for the foster pet care service came to her gradually as she recognized a pattern, not only in her own life, but in the lives of other women who faced leaving an abusive partner. She named the program after her daughter ASHLEY.
"I went straight because of Ashley. She's my gift from God. She's my inspiration to stay straight and do good things. When I came up with ASH, for Animal Safe Haven, I thought, Wow, this is what I was meant to do. I truly believe in what I am doing to break the cycle of abuse, the link between animal abuse and child abuse. They go hand in hand."
"I want abused women to know, there IS life beyond this. They can rise above it."
Anyone interested in volunteering may call 740-986-8454. Donations to help cover the costs of caring for pets in need may be sent to: ASH Program, c/o Brookhill Clinic, 615 U.S. Route 22 East, Circleville, Ohio 43113.
This article appeared in the; CIRCLEVILLE HERALD
And was written by: LINDA AUDET THOMAS

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PET PROTECTORS
Williamsport,Ohio-Sometimes he tripped her, sending her sprawling to the floor of the home they shared.
Other times he would hit her in the mouth; once he broke a tooth and threatened to gouge out her eyes.
That night, he beat her so badly she feared the next time he would kill her.
"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 abuase 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 Circleville, Ohio, finally fled one day under the pretext of going to the store to refill a prescription.
Although she found safety in the home of a relative, she feared for the safety of 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 friends I had while I was going through this," she said.
One of Dean's family members, however, had heard of a free foster care program for pets of victims of domestic violence.
Teresa Frabott, herself a survivor of domestic violence, has been running the Animal Safe Haven Love & Empower Yourself (ASH) progrsm from her Pickaway County home for more than a year.
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 domestic violence shelter.
"Teresa and Haven House helped me with my animals," said Dean, who now volunteers by anwering the phones 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.
Yet 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 four 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 non-profit 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 is also seeking 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 victims 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 definately 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 Lockwood of the Humane Society of the United States.
Lockwood directs the agency's First Strike Campaign, designed to draw attention to the link between cruelty to animals and acts of violence against people.
Schoonover said her experience counseling domestic violence survivors supports those findings.
"I've talked to alot of victims who were being beaten, and if the perpetrator couldn't get to them that way, they would slam the dog against a wall to get to them," Schoonover said.
One client told Schoonoveer that her abuser hit her dog across the eyes with a poker, blinding the dog. Another woman fled her abusive situation without her dog. When 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," Schoonover said.
Battered women in Pickaway County seeking help should call the 24-hour Haven House hotline, 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. 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," Schoonover said.
Although most clients will stay in the shelter from 30 to 45 days, Frabott will provide foster care for their animals as long as necessary.
Once they leave the domestic violence shelter, pet owners have five days to find housing for their pets, however, she is willing to work with clients if they have difficulty finding transitional housing 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."
This article appeared in the "COLUMBUS DISPATCH"
Written by: EILEEN DEMPSEY

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