Without the love and comfort of her three dogs, Lisa says she “wouldn’t be here… the mental anguish I go through on a daily basis is hard enough as it is.”
The 59-year-old year old survived extreme domestic violence, only to then be terrorised by a home invasion and house fire that left her homeless for three months.
Throughout it all her dogs, Rottweiler Zeva and toy poodles Cheeky and Puppy, have given her unconditional love and comfort and a reason to get up every day.
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“My dogs have been through everything with me. I’ve had dogs all my life, but these three dogs are so different, they literally they cuddle me almost like a human and they they just they go in the car, they sleep on the bed with me – all three of them, if I’m in the loungeroom, they’re in the loungeroom, if I’m in the kitchen, they’re in the kitchen,” she tells 9honey.
So when Zeva fell ill with a urinary tract infection so bad the pooch was passing blood, Lisa was desperate to get her urgent medical care.
But after everything she’d been through, the cost of Zeva seeing a vet and her medication was something Lisa couldn’t afford.
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Reaching out for help, Lisa sent Pet Medical Crisis, a Victorian based charity, an email that not only changed her dog’s life, but her own.
The charity helped transport Lisa and her dog to the vet and covered the costs of the consultation. PMC founder, Jennifer Hunt also ensured Lisa had the support she needed at the time.
“She said that was the absolute turning point. Her reaching out to our charity has absolutely turned her life around,” Hunt tells 9honey Pets.
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PMC was there for Lisa once more when one of her dog Puppy’s eyes was injured while being groomed.
“I was in tears and hysterical, you know, hearing that my dog A. is going to lose his eye and B. how in the hell was I going to afford to pay it?” Lisa recalls.
Puppy didn’t end up losing his eye and is on the road to recovery after vet treatment and PMC’s support.
“The gratitude that I have for Pet Medical Crisis is just massive. Without them, I would on both occasions I would have been lost because I’ve got no I had no one else to turn to [to help pay for vet bills],” Lisa says.
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After PMC helped save her dogs’ lives, Lisa is paying it forward by raising awareness and hopefully funds by telling her story
The charity, which helps fund vet bills up to $1000, is only able to help pensioners get medical care for their pets through the support of donations from the community – which are tax deductible.
It is also supported by donations from organisations like the Petbarn Foundation, which has given more than $800,000 to charities like PMC and the RSPCA to fund programs supporting pet owners fleeing domestic violence.
It’s not often you hear about pets in conversations about domestic violence, despite 33 per cent of women delaying leaving an abusive relationship because of concerns for their pet’s welfare, according to Domestic Violence Service Management.
A further 50 per cent of women in violent relationships say their partner has also hurt or killed one of their pets.
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Those figures are reflected in PMC’s own statistics, with 41 per cent of the clients it has helped so far this year reporting current or historic domestic violence and 95 per cent of them are women.
“The last financial year, we’ve had 1200 people in desperate situations with their pets who just can’t afford veterinary care. So they send an application, and each one is triaged by our case management team,” Hunt explains.
“We’re only small, but we have a really dynamic team who look at every case and triage according to urgency. So if it’s a snake bite, obviously that’s really important to get dealt with quickly. Sixty-four per cent of our cases have to be dealt with within 12 hours to prevent a pet from being euthanised or surrendered.”
Leaving a violent situation is a massive step, and while there are places people can turn to for help, they may not have much money for themselves and their kids, let alone their pets.
“But if the dog gets sick or the cat gets sick what are they going to do? Fortunately, we’re there, so we come to the rescue,” Hunt says.
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Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
