Learning to Love

The adult program

The core of the Anicare adult program is the same: assessment and empathy-based therapy. And it can be critical for the animals.

"Helen" sat in her group therapy session, feeling anxious and scared. She was preparing herself for a revelation that she knew would surprise her therapist. Like everyone in her group, she was a survivor of abuse herself. Recovering from the effects of beatings and low self-esteem was painful and draining. But she knew she needed help, and what she was about to reveal about herself struck her with even more fear and horror. When it was her turn to speak, she became teary as she revealed her awful secret. She had been abusing her beloved animals herself, and now she was afraid she was going to abuse her child.

Her therapist, Karen Schaefer, a psychologist at New Mexico State University's Counseling Center, knew that victims of abuse often displace their anger through violence themselves. But Helen's admission stopped her in her tracks. Abusing animals? This woman was an animal rescuer.

The therapist promptly got a second surprise. "I asked how many other people in the room had ever abused their animals and three-quarters of them raised their hands," says Schaefer. "You know, I specialized in abuse, and it wasn't until this point that I started putting together that there were animals in these homes and abuse would be going on."

Schaefer swung into action to help Helen and her animals. "We were in that house within 48 hours. I worked with her and the animals, getting them rehomed. Helen's view of the animals' needs was very distorted. She cared about them. But almost every time there was an incident of abuse, it was triggered by unreasonable expectations of the animals. And this was a woman who came from a history of being abused herself."

There was another problem. Because she is a therapist, subject to strict confidentiality laws, Schaefer couldn't report known animal abuse to the authorities without her patient's consent. So she struck a bargain with Helen. They were going to get her help as fast as they could, but if any further abuse occurred, Helen would report herself to the authorities. Helen agreed.

"I've learned so much since then," says Schaefer. "Now we're starting to ask on intake 'Have you witnessed or committed animal abuse yourself?' But even then the staff will say to me, 'I just can't bring myself to ask.' They know there's nothing they can do. We're trying to incorporate it into the written forms because, believe it or not, people will often put it down."

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