This Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) was full of exciting promotions and extensive media coverage to help elevate joint efforts to ensure domestic violence (DV) survivors and their pets can escape abuse together. Our partner Purina pledged to match all Purple Leash Project (PLP) donations made in October up to $200,000! Purina range brands Tidy Cats, Beneful, Beggin’ Strips, Friskies Party Mix, Friskies, and Cat Chow all promoted the $200,000 match through special stickers and QR codes on packaging that led to our PLP donation page. Another first of its kind promotion was through DoorDash, who opened up their first virtual store for the Purple Leash Project! Customers were able to receive $10 back in Doordash credit when they donated $5 or more through the Purple Leash Project store throughout the month of October. The Purple Leash Project was also featured on The Tamron Hall Show on Purple Thursday when Karen Kirk, executive director of Lydia’s Place, a St. Louis transitional shelter and PLP grantee, was a special guest.
Our Director of Collaboration and Outreach, Katie Campbell, was busy talking about DVAM on The Doggy Diva Podcast and WFAA (a Dallas ABC affiliate). Additionally, she traveled to Washington D.C. and hosted a discussion on “The Power of Pets: Building Support, Morale, and Community through Pet Housing Programs” at the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and spoke at their congressional breakfast, sponsored by our Purple Leash Project partner, Purina. She traveled to Philadelphia and spoke alongside our Rescue Rebuild partner and others about our joint Don’t Forget The Pets project at Animal Grantmakers 2023 Annual Conference.
Not only were we on the airwaves, at conferences, and just about everywhere else, our RedRover Responders volunteers were hard at work in Georgia helping to make another DV shelter pet friendly with our friends at Greater Good Charities’ Rescue Rebuild. Local Georgia media outlets helped to spread the word about this exciting new shelter renovation – it will be the only pet-friendly shelter out of 17 southwestern counties in Georgia. Our work is not done! We will continue to work towards our goal of ensuring that 25% of domestic violence shelters can welcome pets by 2025. Then we will set a new goal to ensure no one has to make the impossible choice of choosing between their safety and their pet. Until then, please join the 25 by 2025 movement at 25by2025.org to see what you can do to help more survivors and their beloved pets escape abuse and reside safely together.
