By Chad Bricks | 12 News | Read the original article (external site)
One of nation’s largest and longest running domestic violence shelters will now be growing even more with the addition of family pets.
The Sojourner Center became the first domestic violence shelter in Phoenix to open a pet companion shelter, allowing families to bring their pets with them to the center.
Sojourner says their plans go beyond just housing the pets. The animals provide an opportunity to incorporate pet therapy into their counseling.
“Pets are amazing when it comes to healing. We are not only able to give this to the pet parents who are here, but to other residents who are here too,” said Jodi Polanski, executive director of Lost Our Home pet rescue.
“The pet therapy component will give the other residence the same unconditional love,” Polanski said.
The first pet to call the downtown Phoenix shelter home is Clark, an orange Tabby cat. His owner are a mom and son who fled an abusive home life in Washington state. They arrived in Phoenix to live with a friend only to learn they, too, were in a domestic violence situation.
“It’s amazing, and I think it’s going to open doors for other families because we women love our animals just like our kids,” said Jennifer Preslar, a resident at Sojourner Center and Clark’s owner.
Families will often stay and live in abuse rather than leave said Dr. Maria Garay, chief executive officer of Sojourner Center. She also said abusers will often use their violence against family pets.
“I never had envisioned the impact of this on families, especially that women and children would not leave their domestic violence situation because of fear for their pets’ safety,” said Michael Goodwin, senior vice president and chief information officer of PetSmart, Inc.
PetSmart donated $50,000 to help make the companion shelter a reality.
Robert Preslar helped cut the ribbon Tuesday. He’s also Clark the cat’s best friend. He said he’d rather live in a car than live without Clark.
“He’s always been a friend,” Preslar said.
And now he will always be.
May 2015