HIGH FIVES: New Maine Law Protects Pets in DV Environments

HIGH FIVES to Maine Goveror John Baldacci.  The Bangor Daily News of March 31, 2006, reported that LD 1881 was signed into law on the 31st, the first law in the country that gives judges the authority to protect pets when domestic abuse victims seek a protection order.

Baldacci called it 'unconscionable' that 76 percent of victims who seek safety at domestic violence shelters report that their abusers either harmed or threatened their pets as a tool to control and intimidate them.  The new law can help break that cycle of violence, he noted.

The landmark law not only gives judges the power to include pets on a protection from abuse order, but also gives them authority to impose penalties if the order is violated.  Those penalties range from a fine to jail time.

The April 1, 2006, edition of the New York Times reported that although Maine is believed to be the first state with such a law, a new program in Columbus, Ohio, takes animals of victims of domestic violence and places them in a women's prison, where the inmates care for them.

In Nashville, the city gives such pets a safe haven for up to 30 days.  And in St. Louis, the Domestic Violence Pet Assistance Program finds foster homes for the animals.

Way to go.  Now let's get this law enacted across the country.

Comments

[Tom in CT]

Shocking article. Never considered violence against animals as this significant. I was certainly lucky to get out when I did....

[Jan]

I am a Maine resident so I was happy to see that pets of victims of domestic violence are now protected under the law. Victims who call our helpline report not wanting to leave their pet behind if they leave and fears of their abuser hurting or killing their pet as one reason they stay.
However, I am sad to report that pets in abusive homes are of a higher priority than men who live with abusive partners.
Male victims do not have access to support groups or safe shelter from the domestic violence programs here in Maine. None of the shelter programs offer men the same services as they give women with or without children and now pets. All victims should be treated fairly IMHO. It's time to stop looking at this social problem as just an issue of "violence against women" and realize that domestic violence against anyone should not be tolerated.
Jan Brown, Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women