NJ Nonprofit Shelter Our Pets Announces Holiday Bazaar and Craft Fair

Shelter Our Pets Announces Holiday Bazaar and Craft Fair

Shelter Our Pets, a New Jersey nonprofit whose mission is to provide a safe haven for the pets of victims of domestic violence who are fleeing their abusive situations, will be hosting a Holiday Bazaar and Craft Fair on Saturday, November 16th, featuring local crafters, artisans and vendors with unique, one-of-a-kind wares, including handmade jewelry, artwork, accessories, and home decor. The event, hosted in conjunction with the GFWC Paskack Junior Woman's Club, will take place at the Woodcliff Lake Senior Center in Tice’s Corner Marketplace, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey from 10am to 4pm. Proceeds raised from this event will fund Shelter Our Pets foster care program.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle sponsored by the GFWC Paskack Junior Woman’s Club, benefitting Shelter Our Pets. Tickets for this raffle are $10 each. Winner need not be present to win. Tickets can be purchased by mail by downloading a form from Shelter Our Pets’ website ShelterOurPets.org or by sending an email to tickets@shelterourpets.org. The drawing is November 16, 2013 at 3PM EST, during the Holiday Bazaar and Craft Fair at Tice’s Senior Center, 411 Chestnut Ridge Road in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.   This is a 50/50 cash raffle and the winner will receive 50% of the amount received for all tickets or rights to participate. No substitution of the offered prize may be made.

Participating vendors include Pascack Valley area jewelry artisans Sequin Garden Jewels, Holly Gold, Anne Woodman, Headpiece Heaven and Wild Eclectica.  Other local vendors include artist Margaret O’Hara, Cheerful Matted Prints, Night Lights by Lori, Unrooted Air Plants, Just Jenny’s Love Photography, My Heart Works decoupage, Mitch Nottingham from RMN Handmade Brushes and BL Creations making handmade dog tags on site. Several other vendors will also be present including Mary Kay representative Carolan Prisco and Advocare. Tastefully Simple representative Ellen DiVietro will be selling the Tastefully Simple product line at the event with a portion of all sales going to Shelter Our Pets.

Shelter Our Pets Holiday Bazaar is sponsored by D’s Grooming Shop in Hillsdale, New Jersey, AdvoCare®, a world-class nutrition company specializing in health and wellness, weight management, vibrant energy and sports performance, and artist Jane Coco Cowles, whose work can currently be seen at the Rivervale Public Library in River Vale, New Jersey.

There will also be a baked goods and refreshment table sponsored and run by Pascack Valley High School students from Hillsdale.

For more information, please visit ShelterOurPets.org or email fundraising@shelterourpets.org.

ABOUT SHELTER OUR PETS

Shelter Our Pets is an all-volunteer nonprofit corporation. Our mission is to provide a safe haven for the pets of victims of domestic violence who are fleeing their abusive situations. Shelter Our Pets assists people seeking safety from violence by providing alternatives to giving up a beloved pet, leaving a pet behind in a potentially dangerous situation or continuing to subject themselves and their pets to abuse.Shelter Our Pets, Inc. provides temporary shelter, medical care, and behavioral rehabilitation for the animals of domestic abuse victims.

Shelter Our Pets, Inc., P.O. Box 564, Montvale, NJ 07645, ShelterOurPets.org

BACKGROUNDER

Domestic violence and animal abuse are not mutually exclusive according to the American Humane Association.In fact, one becomes fodder for the other. For example, 71 % of pet-owning women entering shelters reported that their batterer had injured, maimed, killed or threatened family pets for revenge or to psychologically control victims; 32% reported their children had hurt or killed animals in response to abuse situations.

Psychological control is often the motive of a batterer, and pets can be used very effectively. Statistics from theAmerican Humane Association show 68% of battered women reported violence towards their animals, with 87% of these incidents occurring in the presence of the victim and 75% in the presence of the children.

Between 25% and 40% of battered women are unable to escape abusive situations because they worry about what will happen to their pets or livestock should they leave. Further, the Association found, pets may suffer unexplained injuries, health problems, permanent disabilities at the hands of abusers, or disappear from home.

According to Shelter Our Pets founding member Laura Mann, Esq., "In the short term we want abuse victims to know we will be there to take care of the animals; over the long-term, we hope to be able to offer a facility where the survivors and their pets can remain together safely, while they break free from their lives of abuse. We seek to fill the gap in addressing this unmet need of survivors to hopefully play a small role in breaking the cycle of abuse and the torture of animals that also endure the cruelty of these abusers."

Investigation of animal abuse is often the first point of social services intervention for a family in trouble.

Beatriz Wawra, Director of Crisis Services at Shelter Our Sisters, which provides aid and shelter to abused women, added, “Shelter Our Pets is a much needed service that will benefit victims of domestic violence. We have had calls, wherein the caller wants to know if it is considered domestic violence when a partner is hurting a family pet after an argument. My answer is ‘yes’.  This behavior can escalate to a more dangerous situation for the victim.”

In 2011, the NJ legislators passed a bill that permits the court to include animals in domestic violence restraining orders.   NJ Senator Thomas Kean Jr. said, “While the new law provides legal shelter for the victims of domestic abuse and their pets, this new volunteer service will provide actual shelter for these animals, thus ensuring that domestic abuse victims no longer have to choose between leaving their home for safety and protecting their beloved pets.  I am so pleased that Shelter Our Pets has recognized the void that existed in this area, and has worked toward providing a much-needed resource in the effort to protect victims of domestic abuse. “

NJ Assemblywoman, Connie Wagner, who co-sponsored the bill in the Assembly said, “The public has become far more aware of the horrors some pets face at the hands of abusive spouses and partners.  I applaud the work of Shelter Our Pets and other organizations as they provide services for at-risk pets that are being protected under the new law.”

For information or assistance in sheltering pets, please contact, Lynn Gregorski-Bosi at 973-506-9696.

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