Thread by @_CarolJAdams

I was shocked to find that @RLSWrites cites a statistic about the # of animal shelters verses the # of #domesticviolence #shelters, in No Visible Bruises. Why didn't editors at @BloomsburyPub catch this as problematic? Thread: why this is problematic:

1/ There is a connection between domestic abuse and animal abuse. Often abusers injure animals as well as their main targets: women. Many women, over many years, did not leave their abusers because there was no where to take their animals.

2/ Now some dv shelters have created shelters for animals, or have developed working relationships with animal shelters in order to protect the animals who are also targeted by abusers.

3/ I wrote about this 24 years ago in "Woman-Battering and Harm to Animals." Like @RLSWrites, I talked about men who lead batterers' programs. They told me that the harm done to animals is often something that #batterers don't want to discuss bec the kinds of harm they inflicted

4/ exposed how deliberate their violence was. You can find the paper on "Woman-Battering and Harm to Animals" here: read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/199…

5/ In addition, over the years Orders of Protection have bee expanded to include animals. Why? Because they are at risk with #batterers too. So, a cheap shot by a respected author at the numbers of #animalshelters is out of place in an important book on #dv.

6/ Furthermore, anyone who has bought a #purebred dog contributes to the numbers of animals in shelters. Animal shelters don't exist because we care more about animals; they exist bec we don't care enough. And animal shelters #euthanize.

7/ Just because animal shelters and dv shelters share the same noun, "Shelter", doesn't mean that they are acting in the same way or perform the same function. Nor does it communicate anything about who is cared about more.

7/ This was such a cheap shot, it makes me wonder if there are other places where @RLSWrites took a short cut to make a point. Well, yes, in her comment on the #ASPCA.

8/ @RLSWrites says, "The #ASPCA predates laws against cruelty toward one's wife by several decades, meaning, I suppose, that we held our dogs in higher regard than we held our wives." The existence of a not for profit is not the same as the passing of a law.

9/ This is another cheap shot and for what purpose? I do believe if you look at the history of #ASPCA, the founder helped with child abuse cases too. But, the idea that we care more about or have responded better to animals than women is simply wrong.

10/ stalking behavior, or separation violence, has also included harm to animals. Women coming home to find their dog hung, or a dead squirrel in the front porch, or other atrocities. Paying attention to how animals are treated helps us to understand #domesticviolence.

I hope @RLSWrites and @BloomsburyPub will remove this offending, self-righteous, and inaccurate information from future editions and that we can all work to stop the harms inflicted on others (including animals) by #batterers.