GA HB 429-Protection Orders for Pets

Sponsor(s):  Reps. Sharon Cooper, Mark Burkhalter, Rich Golick, John Lunsford, Gene Maddox, Donna Sheldon
ASPCA Position:  Support
Action Needed:  Please use the email below to contact your state representative and urge support for HB 429.

HB 429 gives Georgia's courts the power to protect pets by including them in court-issued protective orders, thereby breaking the cycle of domestic abuse and animal cruelty.

Sadly, animals often are used as pawns in domestic disputes.  Batterers abuse animals for a variety of reasons-to demonstrate power and control, to retaliate for acts of independence and to coerce a victim to return.

In recent years, a strong connection has been documented linking animal abuse and domestic violence:

• In a survey conducted by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence of battered women and children in shelters, 85.4 percent of the women and 63 percent of the children reported incidents of pet abuse.
• Sixty percent of women who are the victims of domestic violence have had a pet killed by violence.
• Up to 40 percent of battered women delay going to a shelter because they fear what will happen to the pets they must leave behind.

Statistics also show that one out of four women will experience domestic violence in her life.

What You Can Do

 

Help keep your pets safe with a free pet safety pack from the ASPCA. In the event of an emergency, the pet rescue window decal alerts rescue personnel that pets are inside your home. The safety pack also includes an ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center magnet-a great way to keep the APCC's toll-free emergency number and website address handy in case your pets get into something they shouldn't.

http://www.aspca.org/about-us/free-aspca-stuff/free-pet-safety-pack.html