*Olivia and *Sarge

*Olivia bravely shares her story of getting her beloved dog *Sarge and her child away from family violence.

“I was in a relationship for just over three and a bit years. There were a lot of red flags, but I guess I was a bit blindsided.

It started to become more physical, especially towards the dog. Anytime, Sarge, would get into rubbish bags that were left outside, my ex would come home and see that and he would hit him. It started out with a hand to his back back, but then one time it ended up with a big metal pole. And he whacked him quite a few times with it. I called Sarge to come over to me and I laid across him. But he did it again.

Then one day he hit my child as well, and I was like, that’s it, I can’t handle this anymore.

Sarge was the victim of domestic violence. I don’t know why it took me so long to get out, but there was just that one time when it all hit the fan, and I knew this wasn’t okay.

It’s amazing to have somewhere pets can go like Pet Refuge. Because that’s the heartbreaking thing - If it didn’t exist, I would have had to probably re-home Sarge and that would have been my worst nightmare.”