Maya Gupta Helps Fill Need for Safe Shelter

I had an opportunity to talk to Maya Gupta last week when she was in Michigan for the AniCare Child training.  She is a certified AniCare trainer, and has worked with the ASI since 2007 after receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology.

Maya is executive director of Ahimsa House in Atlanta, a state-wide organization dedicated to helping the human and animal victims of domestic violence reach safety together.  Through its Safehouse program, a network of foster homes and boarding facilities, Ahimsa House has provided more than 19,000 nights of safe and secure shelter for pets in need and has reunited 85 percent of its clients with their pets once everyone was safe.

Important components of her work are to promote better laws and policies to combat the cycle of violence and to network and collaborate with others. Maya has testified at hearings in the Georgia legislature, and Ahimsa House pays for forensic veterinary exams so that prosecutors can add animal abuse counts to domestic violence cases. She’s also a board member of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Chair-Elect of the American Psychological Association Section on Animal-Human Interaction.

This background has given Maya a unique perspective on the importance of AniCare in addressing those who abuse animals. “There is a compelling need for a resource like this,” she said, “and, without the AniCare model, we have nowhere to turn.”