Sebastopol veterinarians help victims of domestic violence stay with their pets

The woman in urgent need of help was spending the night in her car with her pet dog and turtle.

“The dog and the turtle were best friends,” recalled Dr. Sarah Reidenbach. “They slept together, and got along great.”

Reidenbach is a veterinarian who along with her partner, Dr. Kate Kuzminski, last year co-founded Ruthless Kindness, a Sebastopol nonprofit devoted to victims of domestic violence who need help with their pets.

While many area homeless shelters won’t allow pets, those that do require documentation that those animals are up to date on their vaccinations and have no other medical conditions. That task, simple as it may sound, often presents a significant barrier for those escaping an abusive situation.

“About 50% of domestic violence victims will not leave their abuser if they have to leave a pet behind,” said Reidenbach, who most recently spent five years as medical director of the Humane Society of Sonoma County. Rather than abandon a pet they consider a family member, the victims often stay in the abusive situation.

Ruthless Kindness works to remove that barrier. After having a client referred to them by victim advocates from providers such as the YWCA and the Sonoma County Family Justice Center, Reidenbach and Kuzminski will pile into the retrofitted ambulance they’ve dubbed “Clifford the Big Red Truck” and meet the victim in a safe place.

“It’s really basic and easy for us, as veterinarians, to give an exam, give some vaccines, and make sure they have the records they need to enter a shelter and bring their pet with them,” Reidenbach said.

They also provide other necessities: blankets, water, food — sometimes even a dog bowl. When the woman with the dog and turtle mentioned that she hadn’t eaten that day, Kuzminski drove home, prepared a hot meal and brought it to her.

While Ruthless Kindness specializes in assisting victims of domestic violence, Kuzminski and Reidenbach also have treated hundreds of animals at large mobile clinics at homeless shelters. Those clinics are often coordinated by Beth Jackson, who volunteers for Dogwood Animal Rescue, which also works extensively with pet owners experiencing homelessness.

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the need for their veterinary services.

“People are having a hard time right now,” Reidenbach said, “so we’ve expanded to providing services for anyone who’s struggling to get into affordable housing.”

The program, as they described it, is in its infancy. Eventually, Ruthless Kindness will provide other services, in addition to veterinary assistance. In mid-April, it will begin working with Rebecca Bailey, the highly regarded Glen Ellen psychologist who is clinical director of the JAYC Foundation, which helps families and individuals that have experienced a severe crisis or disruption.

Bailey is collaborating with Ruthless Kindness on a humane education program that will teach school-aged children compassion and empathy.

“People who need veterinary care often need other resources,” said Kuzminski, who along with her partner intends to “branch out and loop more social services into a kind of comprehensive care clinic,” where those in need might also find resources for mental health, housing, or information about jobs.

“There’s a grander project here, for sure,” said Kuzminski, whose pronunciation of “project” — the “o” is long — provides a clue to her background. Born in Massachusetts to Canadian parents, she moved to Canada when she was 8, earning her veterinary degree from Ontario Veterinary College. Before founding Ruthless Kindness, she spent 15 years working for Rural Area Veterinary Services, caring for animals in far-flung, underserved parts of the country, including Native American communities in the American West.

After earning a bachelor’s degree at Stanford, then her degree in veterinary medicine from UC Davis, Reidenbach also gravitated toward nonprofit work. Her first job was at an animal shelter in Stockton which, until she got there, had no veterinary care. Many animals had been hit by cars; some had been shot.

“It was a really rough place,” she recalled. When Reidenbach arrived, the shelter’s euthanasia rate was around 75%. With support of the San Francisco SPCA Mission Adoption Center, she helped get that down to under 25%.

Both could earn significantly more money in private practice. But then they wouldn’t get the kinds of grateful texts Reidenbach received from the woman with the dog and the turtle.

“There are no words to express my gratitude for your kindness and generosity. I feel so blessed to have the honor of meeting you, sharing time with you, and for the tender loving care … you gave to my best friend” — a reference to the canine, not the reptile.

“Your kindness has had a positively powerful impact on me, my heart and spirit.

“God bless you,” she concluded, “you are truly an angel in our lives today.“

You can reach Staff Writer Austin Murphy at 707-521-5214 or austin.murphy@pressdemocrat.com or on Twitter @ausmurph88.