Bayer announced it has donated $130,000 to 13 domestic violence shelters through Grants Fur Families, a new program providing support to domestic violence shelters across the United States.
Each of the 13 Grants Fur Families recipients, including 180 Turning Lives Around in New Jersey, will receive $10,000 from Bayer, it said.
The grants, Bayer said, will be used to provide safe spaces for those fleeing abuse with their pets by improving existing pet-related facilities or open on-site pet facilities for the first time.
Another recipient, The Crisis Center in Littleton, Colorado, plans to begin welcoming pets at their facility using the grant.
“Every day, the Crisis Center receives calls from individuals fleeing domestic violence. With them, they have the clothes on their backs and the one thing that is most important to them, their pet,” Jennifer Walker, Crisis Center executive director, said. “Many return to their abuser because the domestic violence shelter they hoped would keep them safe is unable to safely shelter their pet. We are excited to be able to partner with Bayer to develop an innovative program for those individuals seeking shelter at the Crisis Center that have pets with them. The Grants Fur Families funds are vital in decreasing barriers that victims and their pets have in seeking a safe place to be.”
