HSOV keeping domestic violence survivors in touch with their pets
Nate Borger, left, works on caulking and Bryn Donnelly prepares for cat shelf installation. Donnelly is the founder of Rescue Rebuild of Greater Good Charities and the current vice president of pet programs. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Amber Dennison, left, president of the board of the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, and Amy Rogers, interim executive director, were on hand at Friday’s worksite. Dennison came up with the idea to seek Rescue Rebuild. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Rooms will be furnished with recently purchased local items that will make it nicer for owners and their pets to spend snuggle time together. The cats and dogs get cat shelves, doggie doors, toys and snuggle beds. The humans get couches, pillows, TV screens and cheerful artwork. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Patrick Hilaire of Rescue Rebuild readies a TV mount for one of the special rooms. Monitoring the work is Tinkerbell, who made the trip from Philadelphia with her owner, Bryn Donnelly of Rescue Rebuild. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Nate Borger, left, works on caulking and Bryn Donnelly prepares for cat shelf installation. Donnelly is the founder of Rescue Rebuild of Greater Good Charities and the current vice president of pet programs. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Amber Dennison, left, president of the board of the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, and Amy Rogers, interim executive director, were on hand at Friday’s worksite. Dennison came up with the idea to seek Rescue Rebuild. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Rooms will be furnished with recently purchased local items that will make it nicer for owners and their pets to spend snuggle time together. The cats and dogs get cat shelves, doggie doors, toys and snuggle beds. The humans get couches, pillows, TV screens and cheerful artwork. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
Patrick Hilaire of Rescue Rebuild readies a TV mount for one of the special rooms. Monitoring the work is Tinkerbell, who made the trip from Philadelphia with her owner, Bryn Donnelly of Rescue Rebuild. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)
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It's industrial-strength glue that holds a human and a pet together. Pet owners know when the bond is broken and it can leave wounds on both.
The Humane Society of the Ohio Valley will soon add a new element to its services, helping domestic violence victims stay in touch with pets they might otherwise have to give up completely. It can help them find healing together, in a safe environment for both the humans and the animals.
The Humane Society's new outreach has been made possible with a grant the humane society applied for and received from Rescue Rebuild, a part of Greater Good Charities, a national nonprofit group that helps local organizations help local animals. Marietta Community Foundation, Walmart Community Grants and Marietta Welfare League also provided financial help.
According to its website, Rescue Rebuild is a shelter renovation program that recruits volunteers from all over the country to help shelters in need. The team travels to selected shelters to take projects from concept to creation to improve both the lives of humans and animals. Their work involves animal shelters, domestic violence shelters, the homeless and veterans housing.
The national Rescue Rebuild team has been working at the Washington County location since June 12 and will be leaving Sunday. The team has done the finish work on a standalone building of their design, following the subcontractor work done by Ken Strahler Masonry on the blocks, windows and doors.
Inside the new structure, Rescue Rebuild has installed ceiling insulation, sheetrock, caulking, PVC trim, doggie doors and temperature controls for each of four special rooms. Outside, they have built a privacy fence and chain link fence enclosures, complete with chain link tops so the cats as well as the dogs can enjoy the outdoor "patios." The company did the lights and painting inside and out.
"The painting took quite awhile," Rescue Rebuild staffer Patrick Hilaire said. "Concrete block really soaks it up." The recent rain has hampered sealing the outside concrete, the only task there that needs to be done. Inside, the floors will be epoxied before furniture is installed.
Eight members of the national Rescue Rebuild team were at the shelter on Mount Tom Road for three or four days. As they finish, the team has three staff members and a volunteer there.
The staff are Hilaire from Bethlehem, Pa.; Nate Borger, Los Angeles; and Bryn Donnelly and her dog Tinkerbell, Philadelphia. Volunteer John Bowbliss is from New Jersey.
Donnelly is the founder of Rescue Rebuild and the vice president of the group's pet programs.
Rescue Rebuild started in 2006 and its work with domestic violence situations started in 2016, "because we are so adamant about the healing power of the animal bond," Donnelly said.
Donnelly said she would like to see a national goal of 25% of domestic violence shelters be pet friendly. The number is currently 17% and was much lower in 2016, she said.
Pets can be involved in domestic violence situations, Donnelly said. They need to be in safe places, too.
Even if a domestic violence victim moves in with family or friends, it doesn't mean the pet also can be accommodated.
The Humane Society will be reaching out to EVE Inc., which serves men, women and children with emergency shelter and other services in the Marietta area. Thanks to Rescue Rebuild, the Humane Society will have four special rooms in a separate building where someone from the domestic violence shelter can come to reconnect for a time with their pet who has had to come to the animal shelter.
Each room will have a sofa, a TV mounted on the wall, individual temperature control for the room, a cat shelf at the window, a doggie and kitty door to the outside and an enclosed chain link pet area outside. Toys and soft spots for the dogs and cats will be available.
The window will be screened by a solid privacy fence around the Rescue Rebuild structure.
And there's a reason for all the trimmings.
"This is an incentive to come in and be with your cat or dog, sit on the couch, snuggle with your pet and watch TV," Hilaire said as he prepared a TV mount for the wall of one of the rooms.
The four special rooms should be in operation by July 4, Donnelly said.
Anyone interested in learning more about the possibilities of helping people and pets in crisis can visit dontforgetthepets.org, she said.