Post : Protecting Pets, Protecting Families: Why HB 1210 Matters for Domestic Violence Victims and Their Animals
URL : [link removed]
Posted : September 27, 2024 at 5:18 pm
Author : Humane PA
Tags : anti-cruelty bills, featured
Categories : Animal Cruelty Laws in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Law and animals

Guest Blog by: Michele Patterson

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House Bill (HB) 1210 will give judges the discretion to add pets to protection from abuse orders.  Why is this important? The risk of harm for families experiencing domestic violence is not limited to humans in the home, but it often extends to animals who live in the household as well.1  Because animal abuse frequently occurs at the same time as other forms of family violence, it can be argued that abuse of animal could indicate the potential for abuse of a person and vice versa.2  Many who have studied this refer to this relationship as the “link”.   Congress has also recognized the link with the passage of the PAWS (Pets and Women’s Safety) Act in 2018. The law amends existing federal domestic violence protections to include prohibiting death or serious bodily injury to their pet.  While these protections were only available to victims and their immediate family members (18 U.S.C. 2261A), the PAWS Act attempts to ensure that their pets are also protected.  In 2021, there was $2 million appropriated to fund this bill to be utilized for pet-friendly shelters across the U.S.  Understanding the link cannot identify all family abuse and animal abuse, but it can be used as a tool to gain access to families whose secrets have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Animal abuse occurs in 88% of homes with child physical abuse and 34% of homes with child physical neglect or sexual abuse.3    50% or more of victims in domestic violence shelters report the perpetrator also threatened or harmed their pets.1 Those who abuse animals are 3.2 times more likely to have committed one or more criminal offenses than compared to a control group.4 

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Protecting pets will also protect victims.  According to an article written by Phil Arkow in 2022, 71% of pet-owning women in shelters reported that their husbands or boyfriends killed, harmed, or threatened an animal, and abusers force victims to participate in or watch animal abuse. Because of the threat of abuse, victims don’t leave because of pets.

Judges can only act on and ask questions based on information that is provided to them.5  If pets are included in the protection from abuse orders, this allows the courts to ask more questions about what else is going on in the household.  

Pennsylvania lawmakers must take the protection of animals more seriously than they have in recent years.  If Congress and 40 out of 50 states think that pets should be legally protected from abuse, Pennsylvania should see the forward-thinking trend and make the necessary policy changes for pets.  The evidence is there, the majority of the country is there, and we need to get Pennsylvania there, too. Passing HB 1210 will protect people and the animals they love.  HB 1210 passed the House last year, and has been sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee since then.  Please call your state senator ( [link removed] ) and ask them to support HB 1210.  If your state senator is on the Senate Judiciary Committee ( [link removed] ) , please politely ask them to bring this bill to the senate floor for a full vote.  

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Michele Patterson is the Central PA State Director for Humane Action Pennsylvania. She attained her Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from York College of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor’s degree in Health Policy and Administration from Pennsylvania State University. In her free time, Michele volunteers as a board member for causes important to her and spends quality time with her husband, Dave, her horse, Charlie, and her rescue dogs, Abbey, Fiona, and Woody.

1. Campbell, A., (2021). Behind the mask: Animal abuse perpetration as an indicator of risk for first responders to domestic violence. Forensic Science International: Animals and Environment. 1,1-3

2. Randour, M.L., Smith-Blackmore, M., Blaney, N, DeSousa, & Guyony, A. (2019) Animal abuse as a type of trauma: Lessons for human and animal service professionals. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. 1-12.

3. DeViney, E., Dickert, J., & Lockwood, R. (1983). The care of pets within child abusing families. International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems, 4(4), 321-329.

4. Alleyne, E, & Parfitt, C. (2019). Adult-perpetrated animal abuse: A systematic literature review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. 20(3), 344-357.

5. Tennyson. K., McDonald, S., Buchanan, A., (2022, February 1). Animal-related relief in protection from domestic abuse orders. [Webinar] National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

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