The Kitty Liberation Front is
excited to learn that recognition to the danger of animals loved
by their owners is a big part of the abuse scenario! Hats
off to Maine for including protection of our beloved animal
friends! May ALL the states follow suit!
Vermont could follow Maine in offering pet protection orders
April 14, 2006, Associated Press,
MaineToday.com
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MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Senate committee has passed a bill that
would allow judges to include pets in protection orders for people leaving
abusive relationships.
The initiative is included in a larger bill that would allow victims to seek
protection from stalking.
If passed, Vermont would become one of two states to offer court protection
to pets.
"There is substantial evidence that people in divorce use pets as leverage,"
said Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, who introduced the measure. "It is a
serious issue. Pets are often a weapon of choice in exerting dominance or
control over loved ones."
(Full Story...)
©Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Pioneering law includes pets in protection orders
April 12, 2006, By JERRY HARKAVY, Associated Press,
MaineToday.com
|
Spurred by growing evidence of a link between domestic violence and animal
abuse, Maine has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges to include
pets in protection orders for people leaving abusive relationships.
In protecting pets, advocates hope to help battered women and others who
aren't willing to abandon their animals to be saved themselves.
"This is a very innovative new approach, and it makes perfect sense because
the protection order is a critical stage for women and others seeking
protection," said Nancy Perry of the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of
the United States.
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Gov. John Baldacci says the law, which provides for civil penalties such as
fines or jail time for those who violate a protection order, should give pause
to abusers who might resort to violence or threats against pets as a means of
keeping their victims from leaving a relationship
(Full story...)
©Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New Maine law expands scope of protection orders to include pets
April 11, 2006,
By JERRY HARKAVY
, AP Press,
KSL.com)
|
PORTLAND, Maine — Spurred by growing
evidence of a link between domestic violence and animal abuse,
Maine has enacted a first-in-the-nation law that allows judges
to include pets in protection orders for spouses and partners
leaving abusive relationships. In helping pets, advocates hope to help battered women and
others who aren´t willing to abandon their animals to be saved
themselves.
|
"It's kind of hard
to pack up a whole barn full of animals," said Susan
Walsh, whose dog and sheep were killed by her husband.
"And I knew that any animal I left behind would be dead
in 24 hours." |
|
"This is a very innovative, new approach, and it makes
perfect sense because the protection order is a critical stage
for women and others seeking protection," said Nancy Perry of
the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States...
(Full
story...)
Additional Excerpt from article:
Other states recognize link
Although Maine's law is unique, other states have statutes that reflect the
link between domestic violence and animal abuse. Laws in
California,
Connecticut, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio and Tennessee encourage cross-reporting
among agencies involved in law enforcement, domestic violence, child protection
and animal control, Perry said.
Animal welfare agents already have been looking at ways to help potentially
endangered pets whose owners are in abusive situations.
"A growing trend is called safe havens. These are cooperative agreements
between shelters for women and shelters for animals," Perry said.
Several agencies in Maine participate in a program called
PAWS -- Pets and
Women to Safety -- that arranges confidential placement of animals in foster
care so their owners can move into a shelter knowing that their pets will be
safe.
The Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk has a PAWS program that works with
Caring Unlimited. "They've worked with all kinds of pets and farm animals,"
Peoples said, "from cats and dogs to horses and exotic birds."
Related Stories:
edition.cnn.com
©Copyright 2006
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A Utah State University professor's research about the connection between
cruelty toward animals and domestic violence has influenced lawmakers in Maine
to adopt a new law — the first of its kind in the nation — that expands the
scope of protective orders to include pets.
Frank Ascione, USU
professor of psychology, has conducted extensive research on the link between
mistreating animals and mistreating women. One of his studies published in 1998
showed that 71 percent of women in a Utah shelter for battered women said their
partner had threatened or hurt the woman's pet.
That study was cited by
Maine Rep. John Piotti, a Democrat, who sponsored a bill that became law on
Monday that permits judges to include pets in protective orders for people
leaving abusive relationships.
A subsequent study by Ascione and some of his colleagues, due to
be published soon, involved five Utah shelters and 101 women who
reported being battered, along with a control group of 120 women
who said they had not been battered.
In that study, 54 percent
of the women who had been battered said their partner hurt or
killed the animal, while 18 percent of the women reported the
abusive partner had threatened the pet. These findings have been
supported by other studies conducted since then in South
Carolina, New York, Canada and Australia.
"This new law is a progressive effort that should become a
model for other states," Ascione said. "Hopefully, it will convince
judges and prosecutors of that the importance of animals in the lives of women
who are battered is important enough to include these animals in orders of
protection," Ascione said.
This also sends a message to batterers, Ascione said: If they violate a civil protection order by hurting pets, it could
result in criminal charges ultimately being filed against them.
His
work confirms that abusers threaten, torture or even kill pets as a means of
forcing their partner to stay in the relationship and put up with whatever the
abuser wants.
(Full story...)
Ascione is the author of "Safe Havens for Pets:
Guidelines for Programs Sheltering Pets For Women Who are
Battered" and another book published last year titled "Children
and Animals: Exploring the Roots of Kindness and Cruelty."
Baldacci signs into law pet-protection bill
April 1, 2006,
AP Press,
boston.com
|
AUGUSTA, Maine --Pets as well as people can be protected from
domestic violence under a new law that expands the scope of court orders
Gov. John Baldacci signed what he described as a first-in-the-nation law that
allows a judge to include pets in protection-from-abuse orders. Civil penalties
for harming a pet in violation of a court order includes fines and jail
time.
"With this new law we hope to help remove another tool for emotional and
physical violence used by abusers in their effort to exert power and control
over their victims," he said.
Baldacci, who has two springer spaniels named Sam and Murphy, signed the bill
Friday in a ceremony attended by anti-domestic violence and animal protection
advocates.
Gretchen Ziemer of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence said many
people are unaware of the link between animal abuse and domestic violence.
"This is such a large barrier to people seeking safety," she said. "A
perpetrator will use anything that the victim cares about or loves for
control."
Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantara cited the case of a battered
woman whose yard became a real-life "pet cemetery" because her husband killed
pets to send a message to the woman and her children that they'd better follow
his rules.
"Her abuser kept telling her that what had happened to those animals was
going to happen to her. This is not a unique case," Cantara said.
Police officers often watch for signs of animal abuse on domestic calls, just
as animal welfare officers look for signs of domestic abuse, he said.
"Violence is violence," Cantara said. "Where there is animal cruelty in the
home, chances are someone else is being hurt, too."
(Full story...)
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Maine Adds
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