Sadly, this is a situation that Bonny knows all too well. She was a victim of domestic violence.
She found it very difficult to escape her relationship and abusive situation, especially with pets involved. Bonny owned a kitten and never thought that she would be used against her by her partner, “He used to chase her away all the time and wouldn't allow me to spend money on vet bills and procedures such as desexing, so she soon became pregnant and had a litter of kittens.”
Bonny said, “One day after another argument, he sent me a text message about her and I knew something was wrong, so I went looking for her and her newborn kittens and couldn't find them anywhere. I was beside myself with worry and felt sick that he had done something awful to them to get back at me. All the while he just watched me searching for them and wouldn't tell me where they were. I finally found them all in a small box inside a cupboard under our two story house, where he had put a heavy bag of tools in front of the door, so there was no way for them to escape.”
“We were in Central Queensland in the middle of summer and when I got to them, the box was soaked through with sweat and they were all saturated and panting heavily. I quickly removed them all to cool them down and put them in my car, took photos of the box and cats for evidence, and got in my car to get them to safety,” Bonny said.
Bonny continued, “As I was leaving, I told him I was going to report him to the RSPCA, which enraged him, and he kept trying to get into my car as I was trying to drive down the driveway. He would stand in front of the car slamming his fists down on the bonnet yelling at me to get out of the car. He opened the door to get in the car again, so I stopped, turned the engine off and rang someone to help me and take my cat and her kittens away to safety… which they did and took them to a rescue in Yeppoon. This saddened me deeply that I had now lost her, however I was relieved she was now safe from harm.”
Despite also being pregnant, eventually Bonny was able to get away from her abusive ex-partner and start a happy new life. But it wasn’t easy. “Without a place to call my own, it was easier to fall into the trap of believing him. Each time he would apologise and beg me to come back to our house. He also had a dog that he would never walk or take care of properly, so I felt I needed to go back to take care of him,” Bonny reflected.
“Leaving a relationship that involves domestic violence is very complex and at times, a dangerous thing to do. Having programs like Pets in Crisis can mean the difference between being able to leave and staying with an abuser who holds all of the control. It helps restore the balance and allows the person experiencing domestic violence to take back responsibility for their lives. The emotional turmoil can never be underestimated and when there are children and animals involved, every little bit of support and assistance counts,” Bonny said.
