Humane Society University

First Strike/Domestic Violence (FS/DV)

Course Description

Community Approach to Confronting Abuse

Abuse and violence do not occur in a vacuum. Many times signs of domestic violence are evident on the faces of multiple members in the household – spouses, children, the elderly, and pets. Additionally, the acts of violence committed by the perpetrator often reach beyond one agency’s focus and will affect many agencies simultaneously. This course discusses the ties between animal abuse and human violence, citing multiple studies and examples of how animal abuse often escalates to human violence. Additionally, it gives participants tools to recognize and report animal abuse and to build multi-agency capacity to address the needs of human and animal victims of abuse.

Course Objectives

The goal of this seminar is to raise awareness about the connection between domestic violence and animal cruelty and to increase inter-agency communication and collaboration in your community.

By the end of the workshop participants will be equipped with the tools to:

• Understanding the relationship between cruelty to animals and interpersonal violence
• Domestic violence dynamics
• Investigations and legal issues
• Useful tools for recognizing, responding to and preventing animal abuse as well as family and community violence
• Establishing and utilizing community level partnerships : animal cruelty and safe haven programs
• A variety of intervention programs for victims and at-risk or offending populations.

Schedule

Where: The location of onsite workshops will be determined by the host agency.

When: This is a one-day workshop held between the hours of:
8:30am to 5:00pm
Check in begins at 8:00am

* Note: Participants will be given an hour for lunch

Registration & Fees

Cost Options: The Host Agency can choose from one of the three cost options, below. Rates are specific to each workshop topic and length of the workshop

• Hosting Agency Flat Rate/No Student Registration Fee: The Hosting Agency pays a flat rate to cover the cost of the workshop; individual students do not pay HSU. The cost of each workshop varies according to the requirements of each workshop and your location. For specifics, please inquire with hsuonline@humanesocietyuniversity.org.
• Low Cost Student Registration Fee/Back-up Hosting Agency Matching: The student registration fee is set at a low rate determined by the hosting agency (i.e. $25). The hosting agency would match the difference between the low student rate and the normal registration fee. An invoice will be sent to the hosting agency following the completion of the class.
• Student Registration Fees only/No Hosting Flat Rate: HSU sets the registration fees based on our average class size of 35 students. Workshop fees vary in order to cover costs of instructor travel and materials. In general, our standard student rates are:

Workshop Rate:

Registration deadline is two weeks before the start date of the workshop.

Cancellation fee is 25% of the registration fee.

No refunds will be given after the two-week time period.

HSU reserves the right to cancel this workshop due to low enrollment or in the case of a major animal disaster response.

Accommodations

Recommendations for accommodations will be made by the host agency and will be posted on the specific webpage for each workshop.

Instructors

All of our instructors are subject - matter experts with 10 or more years of experience in their field of instruction.

Required Materials

Workshop materials will be provided by HSU and sent to the host agency within 7-10 business days prior to the start of the workshop.

Upcoming Workshops

This course will be available in the future.