When Sam* escaped her abusive husband, she took three things with her – her car, her courage, and her dog, Carmelo.
“He’s family,” Sam said of her five-year-old Pomeranian. “He’s there for me. He understands. He speaks without speaking.”
Fleeing Atlanta, Sam eventually wound up in the Chicago suburbs. She and Carmelo were living in her car, enduring the first blizzard they’d ever seen, when a shelter agreed to take in Sam – but not Carmelo. Like many domestic violence shelters, they don’t accept pets. Thankfully, they told Sam about Anderson Humane and our program to provide short-term foster care for the pets of people in crisis.
“I was apprehensive,” Sam said. “Carmelo had never been anywhere else.” But when she went to Anderson Humane’s main shelter, she said she felt a “warm embrace” by the staff. “I never knew such a program existed,” Sam said. “I never guessed it could be so good.”
“It means everything. It’s been one of the key pieces to this transition and to me moving forward,” Sam said. “I can’t say thank you enough.”
As Sam is taking refuge and planning her next steps, Carmelo is being cared for by Mindy, an Anderson Humane volunteer. She sends regular updates and photos of Carmelo to the Anderson Humane staff and they share them with Sam. “This is my way of giving back,” said Mindy, who has fostered and adopted other dogs with Anderson Humane.
Sam said the regular updates on Carmelo make her day. “To know he’s doing okay and being treated fairly. . . .“ Her voice trails off in sobs. “It means so much.” Sam has no family in the area and is reluctant to reach out to her mother and college-age sons, fearing any contact will reveal her location to her husband, who has already found her once. Carmelo is the only family in her life at the moment.
Sam is very excited to be reunited with her furry family member in a couple of weeks when her stay at the shelter ends. She plans to rent a studio apartment where she and Carmelo can start fresh. She said the help she’s received from Anderson Humane has been vital. “It means everything. It’s been one of the key pieces to this transition and to me moving forward,” Sam said. “I can’t say thank you enough.”
*Names and details have been changed to protect Sam’s safety.