Pets of domestic abuse survivors need safety, too. Here’s how you can help.

Paula and her husband were arguing again, as they had done many times in their 17-year marriage. On one particular night a couple of years ago, something was different: He vowed to shoot her cats, she said.

The threats had become too much to handle, and Paula knew it was time to leave. But worry over what would happen to her cats, Penny and Stella, consumed her.

Paula, who did not want her last name used because of concerns for her safety, waited to leave for a domestic abuse shelter because most of them do not take pets. After weeks of talking to officials at one crisis animal shelter, two spaces opened up for her cats, giving her the courage to leave.

Her situation and others like it prompted a handful of Twin Cities organizations to work together to expand a list of volunteer foster homes willing to quickly take in pets for people seeking to escape abuse. The group is called the Minnesota Pet Foster Coalition. It has more than 50 volunteers so far and is looking to add to that number.

“I can’t even tell you the amount of stress that it caused me to worry about where my pets were going to go,” Paula said. “I just remember it was such a big weight.”

The idea to establish a list of pet foster volunteers started after Paula mentioned her struggle to workers at Women’s Advocates, a St. Paul domestic abuse shelter.

Nearly half of survivors who have pets stay in abusive situations rather than leave their pets behind, while 25% return because the abuser is using their pet as a means to get the person back, according to RedRover, a national animal welfare nonprofit that seeks to help pets of humans in crisis.

The Minnesota Pet Foster Coalition consists of six local nonprofits: pet nonprofits The Bond Between, Animal Humane Society and Four Winds Connections and domestic violence nonprofits Women’s Advocates, Cornerstone and Tubman.

To use the program, a domestic abuse victim must call the crisis line at one of the three domestic violence shelters to say they are going there with their pet. The shelter would then call someone on the list of people available to foster and ask them to take the pet for anywhere from 72 hours to 90 days, said Jacob Hustedt, director of development and community programs at Women’s Advocates.

“We have a really good chance of fixing this problem in the Twin Cities,” Hustedt said. “We’ve seen the power of community to come together around this problem over the last year. We’ve seen people show up and offer their services. The commitment is there.”

The Bond Between will provide volunteers with any animal supplies and vet care needed to foster the animals and Four Winds Connections will provide any training needed, said Carrie Openshaw, director of community engagement at The Bond Between.

When Jen Polzin, Tubman’s CEO, got the call to be a part of the coalition, she immediately agreed, she said.

“We’re really excited because we know that we need an entire continuum of options for survivors, but really all of us in the coalition are committed to building out the options so that people never have to choose between safety for their pets or safety for themselves,” Polzin said.

The organizations involved in the coalition stressed the importance of keeping survivors with their pets through their healing process, said Tabitha Ewart, community outreach manager for Animal Humane Society.

“A lot of these people are having to leave everything else behind in order to stay safe and their pet may serve as a support system,” Ewart said. “Pets are a part of their family that we want to help them retain.”

As Paula navigated the start of her healing process, Penny and Stella were a shoulder to cry on when nobody else was there.

“They just became my safe place,” Paula said. “I knew I had unconditional love from this pet, so it meant a lot to me to take them with.”

Paula said she is excited to see the community volunteer to foster pets for so many survivors now and in the future.

“People can do a small part just by helping fostering,” Paula said. “By doing that, you’re helping someone get out of an abusive relationship.”

She said she is happily in a healthy relationship and although one of her cats died, she lives with Stella in a 55-plus community apartment. Paula said she and Stella are looking forward to lots of cuddling, playing and enjoying their new home together.

People interested in volunteering to foster pets can fill out this form with the coalition or to go https://tinyurl.com/knhm5bdf.

Madison Roth is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.