ACT announces moves to stop abusers weaponising pets

“Victims of family violence should never have to choose between their own safety and the safety of the pet they love,” says ACT’s Family and Sexual Violence spokesperson Karen Chhour, launching a new ACT policy at Pet Refuge today.

"Family violence isn’t just about physical abuse. Perpetrators use threats against beloved pets as another way to intimidate and trap their victims.

"The evidence is confronting. Research found abusive partners were almost 11 times more likely to intentionally harm an animal than partners in non-abusive relationships. More than half of victims said they delayed leaving an abusive relationship because they felt responsible for the safety of their pets.

"Nobody should have to stay in a violent home because they're worried about what will happen to their pet."

ACT will strengthen protections for pets used as instruments of coercion and control in family violence by:

• Amending the Crimes Act to make it an offence to use the abuse of a companion animal as a means of coercion or control in a family violence relationship, with a penalty up to seven years in imprisonment.
  
  
  

• Strengthening Protection Orders to ensure offenders cannot withhold, sell, give away, or otherwise dispose of a protected person's companion animal, helping keep pets with the protected person and closing a loophole exploited by family violence offenders.
  
  
  

• Ensuring companion animals are not left with a dangerous abuser when a Protection Order is made, reducing opportunities for offenders to use pets as a tool of coercion or control.
  
  
  

• Requiring Police to record pets on family harm reports to better identify risks and strengthen protections for victims and their animals.
  
  
  

• Giving Police explicit statutory authority and clear operational guidance to remove a companion animal to a place of safety, such as Pet Refuge or the SPCA, where they believe the animal is at risk of harm or is being used as a tool of coercion.

"Right now, if Police attend a family violence callout, a victim may escape while the family pet is left behind with the alleged abuser. That gives offenders another way to threaten and manipulate the people they’re abusing.

“ACT will ensure Police have the tools they need to protect victims and remove companion animals from harm when offenders use them as weapons of coercion. New Zealand is falling behind countries that have already recognised the link between animal abuse and family violence.

"In New South Wales, harming or threatening to harm a pet is now a standard condition of every domestic violence protection order because lawmakers recognised exactly how offenders exploit the bond between victims and their animals. More than 40 US states have also strengthened protection orders to include companion animals.

"New Zealand is behind the curve. It's time our laws caught up with the reality of family violence.

"We know pets are often part of the family, and we know abusers deliberately target them. Victims stay longer in dangerous situations because they’re terrified of what will happen if they leave.

“Knowing all of that, doing nothing is not an option. ACT will put victims first, gives Police better tools, strengthen Protection Orders, and make it easier for victims to leave violence without leaving part of their family behind.

“Family violence is about power and control, and ACT won’t let abusers keep using pets to trap their victims.”

Editor's note:

ACT's full policy for pet protection, 'Keeping families and their pets safe', can be found here.

Additional comment can be given by Pet Refuge (contact Alex Hema, 027 355 2989) and the SPCA (contact Arnja Dale, 022 3001158).