A safe haven for victims of abuse and violence in North Bay is receiving funding to convert its facility to become pet-friendly. It’s an important service, officials with the emergency shelter said, since abuse victims often delay leaving because they can’t take their pets with them. Work is already underway at the Crisis Centre North Bay’s Four Elms emergency shelter. It accepts men, women and children fleeing violence. “The more shelters that can accept pets, the (safer) those families will be in their entirety,” said Anuradha Dugal, executive director of Women’s Shelters Canada in Ottawa. According to Women’s Shelters Canada, half of intimate partner violence survivors don’t leave an abusive situation right away because they can’t take their pets with them. “Pets are family. On a regular day, you want to be with your pet,” said Maleeha Sheikh, Nestlé Purina PetCare Canada manager of corporate communications. “Now imagine somebody is going through the most traumatic experience or one of the most traumatic experiences of their life, and they can’t take their pet with them.” Two years ago, Women’s Shelters Canada and Nestlé Purina PetCare Canada started the Purple Leash Project to give shelters funding to become pet-friendly facilities. “We were truly shocked and disturbed when we discovered that only 80 of 615 domestic violence survivors that Women’s Shelters Canada supports were pet-friendly,” Sheikh said. This year, 40 shelters across Canada applied for Purple Leash funding, compared to 25 applications in 2025. The project will provide $262,500 to support 15 Canadian shelters this year. Successful recipients are located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Six shelters, including the Mattawa Women’s Resource Centre, will receive funding to maintain their existing pet-friendly programs. Special spaces for pets Nine shelters, including the Crisis Centre, will become pet-friendly facilities for the first time. “They might be adding special spaces for pets, buying infrastructure needs like pet cages and safe places for pets to be kept,” Dugal said. By March 2027, the initiative will have supported 45 shelters across the country. Last year, Purple Leash funding supported more than 130 women and children, 25 families and 80 pets. “Protecting the pet from harm as well as the family is an integral part of this program,” Dugal added. The Purple Leash Project’s name reflects that mission, with purple representing domestic violence awareness and the leash symbolizing the bond between pets and people. To learn more about the Purple Leash Project and how you can support, click here. If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, click here to find the nearest women’s shelter and crisis line.
