Sheltering Animals & Families Together®

Sheltering Animals & Families Together® (SAF-T) is the first and only global initiative guiding domestic violence shelters on how to house families together with their pets. The SAF-T Program® works directly with domestic violence shelters to enable more domestic violence victims to leave abusive households without leaving their pets behind and at risk. SAF-T also celebrates the human-animal bond and how family pets can provide comfort, reassurance and healing to adult and child survivors.

The SAF-T Program was created in recognition that families in violent situations often have pets and do not wish to be separated from them when fleeing their abusive environment. The SAF-T Start-Up Manual sets forth four housing styles and answers all the questions about how to safely house pets on-site at a domestic violence shelter. SAF-T saves lives!

What the research says

• There are an estimated 10 million victims of intimate partner violence annually, with 85% of victims being women. There are 84.6 million companion animals in American Homes (68% of homes).
• Did you know that up to 65% of domestic violence victims will delay or refuse leaving an abusive homeout of fear of leaving their pets or livestock behind?
• Did you know that up to 85% of women entering domestic violence shelters reported that their partnerhad threatened, injured or killed their pet?
• SAF-T removes barriers to safety and allows families with pets to seek safety together thus saving lives!