Nearly ten years ago the Ontario SPCA's Provincial Anti-Violence Coalition conducted a Women's Shelter Survey to explore the connection between the abuse of pets and human domestic violence - and the results were startling.

Sixty-one percent of respondents had pets harmed and/or killed by an abusive partner. As well, 48 percent confirmed that they had delayed leaving an abusive situation for fear of leaving helpless pets behind.

As a result, the Society launched the Family Violence Assistance Program (FVAP). Working with participating women's shelters in their communities, Ontario SPCA Branches and local Humane Societies provide safe emergency shelter on an interim basis to the companion animals of families entering women's shelters. In 2005, 95 animals were provided with refuge through this important program.

Recognizing the fact that ending animal abuse goes far beyond the work of the Ontario SPCA and other Humane Societies, the Ontario SPCA cross-trains with organizations including women's shelters and the Children's Aid Society (CAS) to help stop abuse and suffering.

The Ontario SPCA also administers the Youth and Animal Program (YAP), matching hard-to-adopt shelter dogs with youth in the justice system, as part of its violence prevention efforts.

Shelternet is a one-stop information resource linking women to shelters and provides a clickable map of Canada with links to shelters, safety plans, Q&As about shelters and abuse, hosting for shelters, and a secure area for shelters to share resources and no-charge assistance with website development. Shelternet also links with the Ontario SPCA's website so that individuals visiting Shelternet will be aware of the Society's Family Violence Assistance Program.