MARQUETTE — The office of Sen. Gary Peters announced recently that he is leading a bipartisan group of 30 United States senators in urging $3 million in funding for the Pet and Women Safety Act.
The PAWS Act would use the funding to support facilities which protect and support individuals and their pets who have been victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking violence.
The money would be added to the 2022 fiscal year budget and is a continuation of the program that was authored by Peters and signed into law in 2018.
“Abusers often threaten or inflict violence on pets as a way to intimidate or exert control over their partners and prevent them from leaving,” wrote Peters and his colleagues in a press release. “This vital grant program helps the federal government ensure that more domestic violence shelters are able to accommodate victims with pets or arrange for third party pet shelter.”
In addition to Peters, other notable senators including Bernie Sanders, Susan Collins and Krysten Sinema added their signatures to a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging the inclusion of the funding.
“If anything, the urgent need for program funding has grown during the pandemic, as victims of family abuse have been subjected to prolonged periods of isolation with their abuser; and stressors, such as COVID-19-related job losses and additional child care burdens from school and day care closures, have increased the likelihood of domestic violence incidents,” reads the letter.
The data paints a grim picture when it comes to domestic abuse and pets. A study done by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took a look at a Wisconsin town and found that 68% of domestic abusers were also abusive toward the animals in their home.
Other studies and reports found that domestic abuse was on the rise during the pandemic as well.
The need for increased funding shows the PAWS Act has been effective since its implementation, as the demand for funding from associated shelters has surpassed the funding which was available.