Removing Barriers for victims with pets in Nevada, Arizona, and California

Nevada’s victims of domestic violence seek shelter services for adults, children, and pets each day. To serve all the needs of victims, Noah’s Animal House Foundation opened in 2007 in Las Vegas Nevada and has cared for over 1900 pets as their owners entered The Shade Tree shelter for women and children right next door. Occupancy rates and assessment of need resulted in an expansion to Reno Nevada in 2018. Partnerships with Las Vegas’ The Shade Tree and Reno’s Domestic Violence Resource Center provide an on-site solution for pet owners that are escaping violence. Our proximity to the owners creates a safe, comfortable, and easily accessible victim service component that enhances the healing opportunity for victims of domestic violence. Noah’s Animal House is providing a permanent solution for victims of domestic violence to escape with their pets and receive comprehensive people and pet services from experts.

Victims of domestic violence entering our partner shelters are offered free pet services upon arrival. Additional partners providing shelter and supportive services collaborate with Noah’s Animal House and we collectively provide seamless services to adults, children, and pets impacted by domestic violence. Victims from rural areas of Northern Nevada, American Indian Reservations, and urban areas are served in Reno. Victims arriving from the neighborhood surrounding the Southern Nevada campus, a low-income community, rural areas of Nye County, and rural areas of Southern Nevada, Western Arizona, and Southeastern California are served in Las Vegas. The total three-year grant request of $499968 will serve one hundred forty victims and their children each year while their pet receives care from animal care experts in a climate-controlled building safely positioned on the campus of the domestic violence shelter partner.

Victims will receive safe shelter or transitional housing, supportive services, assistance with temporary protective orders if desired, basic needs provisions, resources for affordable housing, and preparation for re-entering the workforce when appropriate, from one of eight partner agencies. Training on the link between domestic violence and animal abuse will be provided for the staff of these eight partner agencies as well as community stakeholders. These community stakeholders include Animal Control personnel, Animal Rescue Group volunteers, Victim advocates, Mental Health professionals, and student interns from local colleges and universities. Noah’s Animal House helps stop the cycle of abuse and partners with stellar agencies providing comprehensive services to individuals and families escaping violence.