Okay, here’s an unusual case study for you:

An 18 year old moves out of her domestic abuse situation that was with her parents. She leaves her animal companions behind, a dog and a cat she is immeasurably close to because she knows that if she takes them with her then her abusers (parents) will use the law to take them back and that she will likely be ensuring that she will never get to see them again – as the animals are registered under her parents’ names as she was a minor when her parents got them. 

3 years later after leaving, she has put herself through her A levels and university and worked and created a steady life for herself in London. She has worked so incredibly hard to reach stability where she herself, first and foremost, can feel safe and therefore have capacity to fight by whatever legal means necessary to bring her furry family home with her and out of what for them is still a life of only domestic abuse. 

This now 21 year old has to navigate the UK legal system that views animals as nothing more than property belonging to their owners with essentially no rights put into action effectively to protect them, and particularly there are no current measures for animals whom are victims of domestic violence and/or are merely used as a tactic to control their human victims. 

Victims of domestic abuse are still considering collateral damage of a "unpreventable" part of a patriarchal society that the UK government, police, social services and more that have the power to make a difference, have in practise done little to nothing to address. 

Animals are used as tactics to make victims stay and live in fear of their abuser(s) hurting their animals in the MAJORITY of domestic abuse cases. This is known. Still, no prevention has been put in place for this to protect the animal victims or the human victims – their rights clearly interconnected. But that I can expand on at a later times. 

(Andrew Campbell, an American researcher has done a considerable amount of work on this topic, and his book, ‘Not Without My Pet: Understanding The Relationship Between Victims Of Domestic Violence And Their Pets’ is worth a read).

This person still thinks about Darcy, her gingerbread cockapoo dog, and Belle, her ashy-snow Persian cat, every single day: first thing when she wakes up, and the last thing before she goes to bed. She imagines they miss her just as much and are holding out for her in their older age now. She knows she is running out of time but she has to try EVERYTHING. She has to make it happen.

How does this young woman bring them home?

I said this was an unusual case because as COMMON as scenarios like this are, there is no space within British law to examine these cases - but I will carve it out myself as that is what needs to happen. For the people and the animals.

Those chasing control need people like their victims and all of the bystanders, to believe that change is not possible, but it absolutely is.