When I first saw that Bayer was one of the sponsors of BlogPaws, I thought, “What the hell is Bayer doing at a Pet Blogging Conference?”
I know my dogs can sometimes be a PITA with their shenanigans, but really? And if that’s what their pitch was, why wasn’t there any aspirin in my swag bag?
What I didn’t know is that Bayer makes products for animals, and they’re expanding that line! Two of their products I’m already familiar with, the Seresto flea and tick collar, and Drontal, which is a de-wormer for pets.
When you attend BlogPaws, one of the items in your swag bag is a “passport.” The passport lists all the sponsors in the exhibition hall, and if you stop at the booths and have a certain amount of sponsors sign your passport, you can enter into drawings for some pretty awesome things. (I’m sorry I can’t show you one, I turned mine in.) 🙂
I was excited to find out, that besides their animal health product line, Bayer is really behind the #PAWSAct.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t know what it is, I didn’t either. But today, for my Blog The Change post, I’m going to tell you, and share their video.
Blog the Change is a quarterly blog hop, when bloggers united by their love and passion for animals use their voices to try to make a change.
PAWS (Pet and Women Safety Act) is a bill that has been introduced in Congress, and its main goal is for the protection of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence, and support from emotional and psychological trauma from abuse against their pets.
The statistics make me sad.
- 71% of women who enter a shelter indicate that their abuser had also abused their pet in some way. In some cases, the pet had actually been killed or maimed. I shudder at that thought.
- 48% of domestic violence victims will stay with their abuser because they are concerned what will happen to their pets if they leave, and most domestic violence shelters do not accept pets.
You may recall that before she sold everything to live on a boat, Pamela from Something Wagging, fostered two dogs for a domestic violence survivor who entered a shelter.
The PAWS Act provides grant funding to assist domestic violence survivors with support services that include housing assistance and training, and this program also includes their pets!
Bayer had a tablet set up at their booth, where we could send pre-written letters to our Representatives in Congress, asking them to support this bill. Once we sent the letter, we could add a pin in our state on a map they had. It was very cool.
Today for my Blog the Change post, I’d like to ask you to follow this link, and add your voice to the many who are already supporting this much needed bill.
My goal as a blogger is to be a voice for the voiceless, and I’m asking you to join me. Please, it will take you less than a minute to do so.
For those who can’t speak with their voice, and only with their hearts, I thank you.
I had the same thought as you when I saw Bayer was a sponsor. I was really moved by the video and presentation. The PAWS Act will make a big difference for many women as well as their pets.
This was a bill that should have become a law a long time ago! I really hope it passes.
Fabulous cause. As someone who has worked in the field, I know how badly this is needed. I’m sharing this post on fb later today.
I’m a big supporter of the PAWS Act and have joined in the effort by contacting my legislators imploring them to get on board with letters and tweets. I know I can count on 2 of the 3 and will continue to ‘encourage’ the 3rd. Ok, so encourage in my case is constant haranguing but with some members of Congress you gotta turn the volume up. Thank you for your passion on this subject and for sharing.
This is such a great cause that should have been addressed long ago,
Great post about such a very important issue.
Yep, I thought that too about Bayer but they sure stepped on to take on an important cause and they sure treated all of the bloggers wonderfully.
I have already contacted my congresswomen and have high hopes that they will all be supporting this. Actually one of them is a co-sponsor of the bill, and I was so happy to hear that!
Great post, Jodi! This just breaks my heart and is such an important cause. I added my name to the growing list of supporters, sent letters to my congressman, and will add the link to my website as well. Thank you for spreading the word!
I was SO impressed by Bayer at the conference. It’s so nice to see they are doing so much for animals and their people. Thanks for hosting the Blog Hop.
Excellent post, and a subject that is so important to so many people who can not speak up for themselves. The weight of big companies like Bayer is good to see, so maybe things will get pushed through quicker if more companies can get on board.
ERin
Fantastic post, Jodi! This really touches my heart
Thank you Jodi for taking about Domestic Violence and Pets as I am one of the lucky survivors to have got away with my dog, but as I put on my blog it is more complicated than people realize as however important it is to have your pet with you.
I am at this moment putting together a program with one of the Domestic Violence Organizations where pets can go into foster while the women are in shelters so that it will give the women time to heal and find themselves while the pet is safe from any abuse.