October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Purina Purple Leash Project is one way to help. Imagine you or a woman you know is in an abusive situation and needs to leave. Then imagine telling your children you have to leave your pet behind, which is one reason why many survivors decide they can’t escape.
Purina Purple Leash Project: Help Keep People and Pets Together
If you’ve been looking for a way to make a difference in the lives of domestic violence survivors, Purina’s Purple Leash Project might be the answer. Over 10 years ago, a Purina employee learned about the difficult decisions domestic violence survivors must make, which prompted Purina to launch the Purple Leash Project.
Facts:
- According to the Purina website, over 70% of women facing domestic violence have received threats toward their pets, such as threatening the pet, injuring the pet or killing the pet (Purple Leash Project | Purina, n.d.).
- Over 48% of survivors delay leaving because they can’t bring their pet (Purple Leash Project | Purina, n.d.)
- With less than 20% of domestic violence shelters allow pets (Purple Leash Project | Purina, n.d.)
- Based on statistics from the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1 in 3 women will suffer domestic violence by an intimate partner (National Domestic Violence Hotline, 2025)
- An average of 24 people per minute are raped, violently injured, or stalked in the United States (National Domestic Violence Hotline, 2025).
Here’s how Purina is helping:
- Awarding grants to domestic violence shelters
- Working to make more domestic violence shelters pet friendly. For example, providing safe spaces at shelters for pets and donating dog beds and cat perches to provide a sense of calm and safety to help families in shelters bond with their pet.
- Employee volunteerism
- Working at the federal level to initiate change
- Red Rover Partner
- Renovations
Why purple? The color purple represents domestic violence and a purple ribbon in October symbolizes support of domestic violence survivors.
Get involved:
- Donate to the Purple Leash Project (through the end of 2025, your donation to Red Rover, in recognition of the Purple Leash program will be matched by Purina).
- Share this post to help spread the word about domestic violence awareness
- Read survivor, shelter and veterinarian stories here: https://www.purina.com/purple-leash-project/making-a-difference-domestic-abuse-survivors
- Volunteer at a local shelter
- Donate to a local shelter wish list
Thank you for helping to make a difference in the lives of domestic violence survivors!
References:
National Domestic Violence Hotline. (2025). Domestic Violence Statistics. The Hotline; National Domestic Violence Hotline. https://www.thehotline.org/stakeholders/domestic-violence-statistics/
Purple Leash Project | Purina. (n.d.). Www.purina.com. https://www.purina.com/purple-leash-project
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