Launceston woman Jayla Sainty shares a unique perspective on animal welfare

Jayla Sainty juggles studies at Deakin University with work on the organisation's Safe Beds program which finds foster homes for the pets of those fleeing domestic and family violence, among others.

Ms Sainty previously undertook animal studies at TAFE and after several years in the workforce decided a career change was in order.

"I've always had a passion for animal welfare," she said.

"When I started to study again, I started to research what social work could look like in animal welfare.

"It's an emerging field, it's very, very new, especially in Australia."

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Through her studies and first-hand experience she had come across several cases where people delayed fleeing domestic and family violence situations due to not having anywhere to stay with their pet.

Ms Sainty said there were difficulties in proving violence towards animals, as it typically went unreported and unpunished unless glaringly visible.

"We have a high pet ownership rate in Tasmania," she said.

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"People have different attitudes towards pets - whether or not they view their pets as just a pet or family - but the overwhelming majority of people view their pets as family.

"I don't think anyone would want to hear that a pet has been harmed deliberately with no repercussions."

This, Ms Sainty said, was not the fault of any particular organisation but reflected the complexity of the issues at hand and that response mechanisms were "under-resourced, underfunded and underappreciated".

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"The Animal Welfare Act is extremely outdated, as well as the Family Violence Act," Ms Sainty said

"There's a role social workers can play there to really advocate for people to be able to keep their pets when they are going through challenging times.

"It's highlighting the need for structures within specialist government departments and a real need to acknowledge that animals do have feelings."

There was also the fact that pet-friendly accommodation was limited in the social and private markets, which made it difficult for all Tasmanian pet owners, not just those in crisis, to find housing.

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As such, Ms Sainty said the changes she and others were advocating for would benefit the greater populace.

Ms Sainty said bringing a social work perspective to the matter was vital for creating change, as it enabled a better understanding of "where the cracks are" and how best to unpack the interlinked issues of family violence, housing and animal welfare.

While she saw Tasmania as behind mainland states like Victoria when it came to supporting animals, the budding social worker was optimistic and said she was in it for the long haul.

"As a state, we are making strides, particularly in our response to family violence," Ms Sainty said.

"The more we advocate for animal human-animal relationships being included in that, I think we will start to see some changes.

"I don't see it happening quickly. I think it's gonna be a long haul ... but this is something I'm very passionate about."

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