A B.C. pilot program that supports the pets of people fleeing domestic violence is expanding to Vernon, and volunteers that can foster animals are urgently needed to support the initiative.
The BC SPCA has announced it is expanding its Safekeepers program to the Okanagan. Launched in late 2023 in the Lower Mainland, the program offers confidential emergency boarding for pets of people escaping interpersonal violence. Since its launch, 35 people have been supported with more than 1,300 nights of care for their animals.
Nicholas Weeda, BC SPCA community services coordinator for the Vernon area, told The Morning Star the current focus is to expand the program in Vernon, but other nearby communities such as 麻豆精选 and the Shuswap could also see the program introduced down the road if a greater need is seen there as well.
The program provides long-term foster care for people's pets, removing a critical barrier for people looking to get out of an abusive living environment.
"It's no surprise that animal guardians often stay in abusive situations rather than leave their pets," Weeda said. "(Pets) are like kids, so it's not easy to just leave that, so we recognize that pets can be a barrier to making that change. People fear about what's going to happen to their pets if they leave, they fear that their partner or their family member may harm their pet of that they might not be able to find pet-friendly housing."
Once a person using the program has come out the other side of an abusive situation and has made those necessary changes in their life, their pet comes back to them safe and "in a fresh beginning," Weeda said.
It's similar to the BC SPCA's emergency boarding program but with some key differences. The emergency boarding program is for pet owners who have experienced an out-of-the-blue emergency such as a house fire or an unexpected hospital stay. It provides a safe stay for their pets for about two weeks.
"That's not long enough for people who need to make more serious and long-term changes like this," Weeda said.
Instead of two weeks, the Safekeepers foster care duration is open-ended, and is typically a three to six-month term, Weeda said.
Weeda said the lack of pet-friendly housing options in the Vernon area is a "huge" issue, even for people who are not fleeing interpersonal violence. He said it's a barrier that makes finding alternative housing a real challenge for pet owners who need to escape an abusive situation quickly, and ultimately leads people to stay in their abusive situation longer.
Cats, dogs, rabbits and other small animals are eligible for Safekeepers, but in order to get the program up and running in Vernon, there is an urgent need for foster care volunteers.
"We need 10 fully trained fosters in the area to be able to begin taking clients," Weeda said.
The fosters will be supporting Vernon but can live elsewhere in the surrounding area. Weeda said fosters that live in neighbouring communities can even be an additional asset, because it minimizes the risk of abusive individuals running into animals in the program in the community.
Fosters accepted in the program would receive specialized training courses that can be done online. The self-directed studies take about six hours to complete.
"Specifically, they'd be an animal lover and somebody who is familiar with animals, ideally somebody who might be familiar with the foster situation, but that's not a requirement whatsoever," Weeda said.
All expenses are covered, so fosters don't have to pay for food, emergency veterinary care or anything else. The BC SPCA is generally looking for fosters who have a space suitable for fostering different types of animals, but people living in apartments or other small spaces can also apply.
"They wouldn't have to worry about getting stuck with a German shepard or something," Weeda assured. "We will definitely work with the restrictions that people have."
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer foster for the program can email safekeepers@spca.bc.ca.
Domestic violence has been on the rise in the North Okanagan, with Archway Society for Domestic Peace reporting last September that its Vernon transition house had seen a 62 per cent increase in the number of women and children it served since the previous fiscal year.
Research from the National Domestic Violence Hotline indicates that 97 per cent of domestic violence survivors feel keeping their pets with them is an important factor when deciding to leave an abusive relationship, and 48 per cent fear their abusive partner would harm or kill their pets (29 per cent reported this has already happened).
Weeda says these statistic highlights the urgency of finding fosters quickly to get the program started in Vernon, but he's confident that will happen.
"I'm not too concerned about it because I know how good the people are in the Okanagan, how much they want to help, and how good the sense of community is," he said. "So I think we are relying on the community to help and to foster, but I'm not concerned that we won't be able to do it because we've got such a great community here."
