We are a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining a pet fostering network and providing the necessary veterinary care for pets suffering in a domestic violence household.
Providing a foster family for pets enables the caregiver,
also a victim of domestic violence, to access the resources needed to escape the violence being perpetrated upon the entire family with the goal of reuniting pets and caregivers in a safe environment.
How We Got Started The S.A.S.H.A. Foundation got started when the trustees found themselves in a very unique situation to observe and address the connection between human and animal violence. Donna Platt, a Municipal Prosecutor, would be prosecuting an animal abuse case against a defendant and Bernadette Maull, a Domestic Violence Advocate, would be counseling a victim in a domestic violence case in Municipal Court. It was discovered that all too often the defendant in both cases would be the same person. Knowing that family pets are not allowed in most women’s shelters and safe houses and that victims of domestic violence are often unable to protect their family pets from the abuser in the household, these women teamed up to see what they could do to protect the family pet. A solution had to be created so that the human victim could seek help while protecting and without surrendering their loved family pet. It is through this insight, commitment and determination that these women united and formed The S.A.S.H.A. Foundation.
