Community Partner: Ahimsa House

Rescue. Rebuild. Reunite.

Ahimsa House is dedicated to addressing the link between domestic violence and animal cruelty. They offer services and assistance to victims of domestic violence with pets in Georgia, and work to raise awareness of this connection in communities throughout the state.

In families affected by domestic violence, pets are also at risk. Abusers threaten, injure, and kill family pets to terrorize others in the home; yet most domestic violence shelters are unable to allow pets to accompany their owners to safety. Nearly fifty percent of individuals delay escaping the abuse because of concern about their pets. Ahimsa House, meaning nonviolence, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the links between domestic violence and animal abuse. Anywhere in Georgia and at no charge, Ahimsa House provides emergency pet safe housing, veterinary care, pet-related safety planning, legal advocacy, a 24-hour crisis line, outreach programs, and other services to help the human and animal victims of domestic violence reach safety together.

Originally, Ahimsa House maintained a central shelter for animals at a secret location in metro Atlanta. In fall 2006, they recognized the need to change their program model to operate more cost-effectively and to better serve victims statewide. In March 2007, Ahimsa House launched its redesigned direct services program, which houses animals via a network of foster homes and boarding facilities across the state.

Ahimsa House works closely with a network of volunteer foster homes and partnering boarding facilities across Georgia, which allows them to serve the entire state. Animals can stay for up to sixty days, which roughly corresponds to the length of stay permitted by most domestic violence shelters, but they are flexible about extending this time period in situations of ongoing need. Thanks to their foster homes, they can accommodate not only dogs and cats but also a variety of other animals such as birds, small animals, reptiles, and horses. The animals receive veterinary care as needed during their stay, ranging from basic vaccinations to treatment of injuries or illnesses caused by abuse or neglect.

As of December 2017, Ahimsa House had provided over 63,300 nights of safe, confidential shelter for pets in need. In 2016, they took in 27 percent more animals than in 2015, and requests for their services went up by 34 percent. In 2016, they received over sixteen times the number of calls to their 24-hour crisis line than they did in 2007, the year their program decentralized.

For more information, or to get involved with Ahimsa House, please visit AhimsaHouse.org, or call 404-496-4038.