Safe Pets mean
Safe Families.
We eliminate a dangerous barrier for survivors
and their pets who are seeking safety.
Our Story, Our Passion
Initially established in 2017, SafePet Ontario became a registered charity in January 2022. To date, we have supported over 450 clients and their pets escape dangerous and harmful situations through our pet-safekeeping service. We are the only organization doing this work across Ontario, and the need is overwhelming.
Our mission is rooted in academic research on "the link". Data shows that intimate partner violence, child abuse, animal abuse, and elder abuse, tend to co-occur in families. Abusers inflict violence or threats of violence on family pets as a way of punishing, controlling, and coercing their human victims. This causes inter-generational trauma: children see or hear their pet being abused, and the cycle of violence often continues as those children come of age.
SafePet Ontario doesn't work alone to address these issues. Our organization works collaboratively with a network of like-minded organizations and care providers across the province to ensure comprehensive support for survivors.
Even with this network of partners, the urgent truth is that the current need for our service is beyond what we can currently address.
The number of victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking in Canada is increasing year over year, and the pandemic and inflationary crisis have only made these numbers escalate. Consequently, SafePet Ontario is seeing an unprecedented number of applications for our services.
Safe pets mean safe families.
It's that simple.
"When animals are abused,
people are at risk.
When people are abused,
animals are at risk."
Phil Arkow, National Link Coalition (USA)
Our Mission
SafePet Ontario's mission is two-fold:
We provide pet-safekeeping for survivors of family violence and sex trafficking in Ontario.
We educate frontline workers (law enforcement, veterinarians, Victim Services, VAW workers, and child protection workers) and the public about the "link" among animal abuse, elder abuse, child abuse, and intimate partner violence in families.
Meet The Team
Our Board of Directors
For more information, to sponsor, foster, or donate, please contact our Executive Director, Hayley.
Our dedicated Board members bring a wide range of expertise to the SafePet team:
Nicole Huang, Dipl.
(Accounting and Banking Management)
Board President and Co-Founder
Yvonne Tang, B.F.A.
(Museum and Creative Arts Director)
Board Secretary and Co-Founder
Felix Lau, M.B.A., C.P.A.
(Director of Finance)
Board Treasurer
Karen Moffatt
(Ontario Provincial Police, Ret.)
Director
Sarah Bernardi, M.S.W.
(Veterinary Social Worker)
Director