People and Animals Together (PAT)

The SAFE Alliance proposes to implement the FY24 Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter & Housing Assistance Grant Program.  The purpose is to provide safe and welcoming shelter or transitional housing to domestic violence victims (including dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking) and their companion animals (pets, service animals, and support animals) in the City of Austin/Travis County, TX.

The overarching project goal is to enable domestic violence victims and their companion animals/pets to remain together and safe in shelter or housing.

Project activities include, but are not limited to: conducting intake and needs assessments for survivors and their companion animals to determine levels of safety, needed services, and linkage to other services; facilitate victim referrals to support services within and external to SAFE (e.g., counseling, case management, peer support, legal services, children’s services, etc.); buying pet-related supplies (food, leashes, crates, collars, bowls, toys, shampoo, medications, etc.) for animals in shelter or transitional housing, as determined by a wellness questionnaire, and coordinate for pet training (for interested DV survivors) to reduce aggression of pets who have experienced abuse or been exposed to violent households; securing pet deposits for survivors moving into permanent housing; and ensuring that SAFE shelter and transitional housing spaces that were used to house pets are refreshed and refurbished for future use.

The Austin Humane Society is a subrecipient on this proposal. Subrecipient activities include: emergency, non-emergency, and preventative medical care for dogs, cats, and other animal species; foster care coordination;  and working to ensure victim safety and confidentiality is maintained.

Domestic violence survivors and their companion animals are the intended beneficiaries of this project. Expected outcomes include: safe shelter or supportive housing for domestic violence survivors and their companion animals; substantial availability of pet supplies to keep pets happy, healthy, fed, and safe; and domestic violence survivors benefitting from wraparound supportive services to help them maintain safety and work toward permanent housing.