My Dog is My Home: Co-Housing Solutions in Domestic Violence Sheltering

It’s common knowledge that women with companion animals experiencing gender-based violence and abuse stay in dangerous living situations far longer than it is safe to do so when they are unable to bring their non-human family members to safety with them. For years, women’s shelters have perpetuated this trauma through policies denying access to women who aren’t willing to leave their pets behind to potentially suffer at the hands of the abuser. In 2013, after years of “sneaking” animals into the shelter with their owners, Bethesda House decided to tackle the issue head on becoming the first women’s shelter in Ontario to officially bring mix -species families into shelter together.  In this presentation, Bethesda House will i) share steps in their journey, ii) bust myths saying you can’t co-shelter women and their pets together, iii) highlight successes and challenges, and iv) for shelters who want to eliminate this barrier to women accessing their services, provide support and encouragement to take that first step!

This talk was recorded at the 2025 My Dog is My Home Co-Sheltering Conference.

Presenter(s): Jaki MacKinnon, Valerie Pena, Orazie Cook, Moderator: Zoe Agnew-Svoboda

keywords: 2025 My Dog is My Home Co-Sheltering Conference, animal well-being, unhoused people with pets, keeping pets with people, keeping people with their pets, Jaki MacKinnon, Valerie Pena, Orazie Cook, Zoe Agnew-Svoboda