Concern pets becoming victims of domestic abuse

RTÉ News​

25-05-2025

Pets are rarely considered as a barrier for those seeking to escape from domestic violence, but behind closed doors, they are often used by abusers to control their partners and their children.
While pets have become an integral part of family life for many, the domestic violence charity Sonas is concerned that in some cases they have also become victims of domestic abuse.
Sonas Head of Services Siobhán Ferguson said there are situations where children are forced to hit or slap animals, or pets are slapped and beaten in front of them by a parent.
"We had an experience of a situation where the children were forced by the perpetrator to harm the animal and that was punishment for the children, to hit or slap the pet," she said.
Studies have been conducted in the US and UK that demonstrate an association of animal abuse in households where there is reported domestic violence.
In 2008, the Irish Vetinary Journal noted that while similar patterns of multiple forms of abuse could be found in Ireland, no Irish study had examined this aspect of intimate partner violence.
Sonas has found that in domestic violence situations women are more reluctant to leave the home with children, if there are pets.
The charity decided to take matters into its own hands and approached the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) to see if it could help.
The suggestion was a partnership that would see the DSPCA care for animals in situations where families flee domestic violence and enter refuge.
DSPCA CEO Pat Watt agreed. He said: "We realised that, look, there's something we can do here. Alleviate that worry and provide shelter here for their pets until they're in a safe place, and then we can return them to the family, which is just a lovely role for us to play."
Despite growing pressure on capacity in all animal shelters including at the DSPCA, it was viewed as manageable.
"Our capacity fluctuates all the time, but we don't just have the capacity here, we have a pet hotel where we could accommodate pets. Also, we have a network of foster families who would take animals in on our behalf. So, we'll take care of them," he added.
Sonas and the DSPCA have worked out all inevitabilities in getting pets to safety.
Unmarked DSPCA vans are available to attend family homes and seize pets if necessary; families can also bring pets to refuge shelters before passing the animals over Sonas staff who will bring them to the DSPCA; or pets can be brought directly to DSPCA headquarters by families with the support of Sonas.
The first pets arrived at the shelter on Friday after a family, including a number of children in a high risk situation, had to leave home in a hurry.
The call came through to Ms Ferguson.
She said: "...Unless there was somewhere for the dogs, a safe space, they weren't prepared to leave. So, that's a real concern for us because we've seen it so many times and we know that women and children are left in dangerous situations because they won't leave their dogs at home or their cats or whatever animals that they might have".
The partnership has been a learning curve for everybody involved and while similar initiatives have been established in the UK, it is the first of its kind in Ireland.
Sonas CEO David Hall believes it should be rolled out nationally.
He said: "This is something that's being done for the east coast and absolutely must be rolled out on a national basis. This is a direct barrier for people living in an abusive relationship and we must remove all the barriers.
"This is one such barrier where there is a safe place for animals to be left and cared for, whereby families can visit while here, so this has to done nationwide."
Asked about the expectation of the new arrivals to the shelter on Friday evening, Mr Watt welcomed the fact there were two small dogs arriving together and assured that they would be well cared for.
"Staff are very excited about it because it's a lovely extension of what we do. They would also admire the work of Sonas and the work they do. To play a role in that, is fantastic for them," he said.