A LiveWest resident who fled domestic abuse wants to help others and highlight how grateful she feels to be offered supported housing with her dog.
Enduring a rollercoaster of a journey and finally feeling more at peace thanks to her new home, she reflects on her past and the powerful bond humans have with their pets.
Fleeing from a domestically abusive relationship with her four-legged friend, the resident said: “With everything I suffered with in that relationship, she (the dog) stuck by my side.
“She was there through some really, really rough, horrible times. She was always by my side. She was the one that licked my face when I was crying and sat with me.
“Dogs have such a massive purpose in my life… she is the reason I get up in the morning to take her out.
“I think what made me fight that little bit harder was because I thought, ‘no, you’ve ruined my life, but I won’t allow you to ruin my dog’s.
“Domestic violence, people think it’s horrible but to actually live in that situation, it’s indescribable.”
Whilst working with the police to find a new location where she feels safe, she was informed about our service. Once she was contacted by us and let her know about our pet friendly accommodation, she was over the moon.
Thanks to our pet policy and supported housing service, she thankfully didn’t need to part with her best friend to find a place to live.
The resident said: “Naturally, when LiveWest came to me and said ‘we can offer you a place with your dog’, I absolutely broke down in tears. I had finally found somewhere. There were different companies offering me accommodation, but I would’ve had to put my dog into foster care.
“If it wasn’t for LiveWest, I’d dread to think where we would be because this was our only option and thank goodness, it was a good option. The accommodation is absolutely fantastic.”
Moving to the South West and living closely to beautiful outdoor spaces, she reflects on her past and how far she’s come since moving into LiveWest’s scheme.
She said: “Here is a beautiful place and to find somewhere where I felt safe.
“He really really knocked my confidence with all his nasty ways. He would be timing me when I went to the shop and in the end, it was easier for me to stay in because he was such a vile, horrible person.
“His downgrading words and saying, ‘you’re not good enough’ that really, really knocked my confidence massively.
“10 years was the length of the abuse but it kind of becomes your normal, which it should never be. He made that normal and there was no escape and that really had a massive knock-on effect with me.
“Bang went my confidence. Bang went a happy day. What was a happy day? I didn’t even have happy days anymore, I just had normal every day sluggish, sad days. Really, really bad days.
“I still have days where I wake up and think to myself, will he ever find me? Obviously, he won’t but I think it’s that fear that’s always going to be there.
“I’m going to the gym now. I’m meeting new people and it’s really nice... I feel like I’m slowly but surely getting back to myself. Without this place I dread to think where I would’ve ended up. I really do.
“You can feel a little bit of yourself coming back here. Slowly but surely, it’s not going to happen overnight, we all know that, but what a fantastic start this has given me to getting to where I need to get back to.”
On the search now for her forever home, the resident thanks LiveWest for the role it played in helping her and her dog on their recovery journey.
Take a look at our advice on if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse.
