Thea‘s DV Survivor Story

By Savannah Verdon, Development Manager –

Thea* endured verbal, physical, and emotional abuse and isolation for over two years. Her only safe haven was her cat, Jade*, a Russian Blue with beautiful green eyes, but she, too, was affected by the abuse. She was stressed, and every time things escalated between Thea and her partner, Jade would hide. Over time, she had stopped trusting men altogether. Thea didn’t blame her.

Jade hadn’t just been Thea’s only connection for the two years they suffered abuse; she had been her emotional support and best friend for all nine years of her life. Thea stayed with her partner because she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Jade behind. Like so many survivors, she didn’t know there were options for her and Jade to be safe together.

Even if she wasn’t quite ready to leave yet, it had reached the point where Thea was reaching out to domestic violence shelters asking for help. She wanted to know how she could protect Jade, too. It took a lot of encouragement and explaining how they would help Thea and Jade, but finally, the shelter advocate convinced her that it was safe for them to leave. With a plan in place, Thea took Jade and her belongings and came to the shelter.

The domestic violence shelter didn’t have a pet housing program, but her advocate knew what to do. First, they found a local veterinary hospital that would board Jade at an affordable rate and paid for five nights of boarding to give Thea more time to plan. The shelter wouldn’t be able to contribute more than the five days, but with Jade safely boarded, Thea was already feeling better. The shelter had a policy of letting clients stay for 42 days, so she just needed a solution for the remaining 37 days. Their solution was the RedRover Relief Safe Escape grant program.

After working with her advocate to be approved for a grant, Thea could focus on her healing for the rest of her time in the domestic violence shelter because she knew Jade was safe and would be waiting for her after the 37 days. She had spent two long years suffering abuse for fear of leaving Jade behind, and now Thea and Jade could begin new lives, free from violence…together. Her advocate, who had been with her from the initial call all the way through to reuniting with Jade, saw firsthand what a Safe Escape grant meant for Thea.

“Throughout her stay at the shelter, she mentioned a lot how grateful she was that her cat had somewhere safe and warm to stay, and that she was able to keep her, as her cat has been through a lot with her, and it would have broken her heart if she couldn’t be with her.”

When domestic violence survivors feel alone, with nowhere safe to go with their pets, they can count on you to protect them. Thank you for your support of the RedRover Relief Safe Escape grant program and all of our lifesaving work!

*Names have been changed to protect privacy

P.S. Please consider making a Safe Escape possible for every survivor with a generous gift today.