Including Companion Animals in Protective Orders: Curtailing the Reach of Domestic Violence

Abstract

Barbara Beardsley, a forty-four-year-old woman, works as a receptionist in Portland, Oregon. Barbara grew up in Beaverton and has lived in the Portland area her entire life. She met Dick when she was only eighteen years old and they were married with a baby by the time she was twenty. Prior to marriage, Dick never hit Barbara. Within a month of getting married, that changed. For the next twenty years, Dick would systematically abuse, threaten, beat and choke Barbara. In addition to the violence against his wife, Dick also perpetrated violence upon his two daughters and many of the companion animals that shared their home. Barbara, her daughters, and their companion animals represent the classic 'link' between domestic violence, child abuse, and animal abuse. This paper - the research and proposed change to statutory law - is dedicated to Barbara, her daughters, and all the victims of domestic violence, both human and non-human.