Table of Contents
Get help now
If you are in danger, please call 000.
For a Domestic/Family Violence Crisis support and advice please call 1800 RESPECT. Call toll-free 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au.
Lucy’s Project is unable to offer any form of crisis support for humans with or without animals and we do not offer case management.
Please call 1800 RESPECT or 000 or a domestic/family violence support service in your area.
Information for veterinarians
Veterinarians are often the first professionals to see an animal victim of family/domestic violence. It is essential that veterinarians know what to do if they suspected animal maltreatment.
This booklet has been created for vets and their staff and goes into detail about the issues associated with family/domestic violence and animal abuse.
There is more information in the veterinarians’ section in resources.
If you work with animals and are based in Victoria and would like training for your organisation, please get in touch with Eastern Domestic Violence Outreach Service (EDVOS) for their Animals’ 3R’s training. (Free) training@edvos.org.au. We are hoping this will be available to other states in the not too distant future.
Please email info@lucysproject.com.au to register your interest in this training if you are outside Victoria.
Help for adult humans in crisis
If you are a victim of family violence your safety is a priority. If you are in danger get help for yourself first.
If you are in a safe place right now, then develop a safety plan for yourself, your children and animals.
For more information on safety plans please see:
https://www.1800respect.org.au/help-and-support/safety-planning/
For crisis support for you and your animal in the following areas call:
Victoria
NSW
DVSM
Jessie Street
Western Australia
QLD
1800 811 811 available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Help for young humans in crisis
If you are afraid and in danger now, please call 000 and ask for help.
Pets are important members of the family, providing love and companionship. Sadly, some animals are not treated as our best friends but are used as weapons to hurt or scare others.
If someone you care about is being hurt or is afraid, it’s natural to want to try and protect them or to take them somewhere that you can all be safe.
However, you must remember that it is not your job to keep everyone safe. If there is a fight, do not try to stop the fight yourself. Never get in the middle of a fight. The best way you can help is by calling someone else. Below are some phone numbers to call and a website with more information for young people.
What’s OK at Home?
If you are hurting the family pet, then you must talk to someone to help you stop. Hurting anyone, including pets or other animals, even wildlife, is not OK. To talk to someone now, go to one of these services for young people:
1800 551 800
Other people you could talk to:
- An aunt, uncle, grandparent or adult cousin
- Your teacher
- Your doctor
- Your school counsellor
- The parents of your best friend
- Another adult that you trust
Help for animals
Help for animals in crisis takes many forms as there is no one, single solution that suits all scenarios. Often, many different services may be required to help a family find safe refuge, together. These may include a family/domestic violence service, a refuge as well as an animal welfare organisation or shelter.
The following organisations can provide assistance for animal victims of family/domestic violence.
National
SPSF
NSW
RSPCA Safe Beds for Pets
Paws and Recover
Queensland
RSPCA
1800 811 811 available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Victoria
Cherished Pets
Victorian dog rescue
South Australia
SPSF
RSPCA
Referral Pathway Directories
Funded by Women NSW, South Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services (WDVCAS), and The Women’s Cottage, Lucy’s Project’s AWARE ARC team has created two referral pathway booklets: The Shoalhaven Local Referral Pathways for People and Animals Experiencing Domestic and Family Violence, and the Hawkesbury Local Referral Pathways for People and Animals Experiencing Domestic and Family Violence.
These directories of animal services and crisis support services in the Shoalhaven and Hawkesbury regions can be used to facilitate communication between human and animal services, and to refer clients on to appropriate services.
The two directories are available in both a digital version and a plain-text, print-friendly version. To access the print-friendly version, please see page 2 of the digital documents.
More services
Unfortunately, there are currently insufficient services to meet the needs of the community adequately.
Lucy’s Project is busy building a national database of services and helping to grow amenities for people with animals. We will add contacts as they become available.
If you would like your organisation/service listed, or know of a service we have missed, please contact us, we’d love to be in touch.
Funded by Women NSW, South Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services (WDVCAS), and The Women’s Cottage, Lucy’s Project’s AWARE ARC team has created two referral pathway booklets: The Shoalhaven Local Referral Pathways for People and Animals Experiencing Domestic and Family Violence, and the Hawkesbury Local Referral Pathways for People and Animals Experiencing Domestic and Family Violence.
These directories of animal services and crisis support services in the Shoalhaven and Hawkesbury regions can be used to facilitate communication between human and animal services, and to refer clients on to appropriate services.
The two directories are available in both a digital version and a plain-text, print-friendly version. To access the print-friendly version, please see page 2 of the digital documents.
