Roundup of local news: dogs in Kansas City DV shelter; Wilmington, DE, agencies collaborate to help traumatized kids; an abused woman in San Francisco stands by her man...again

Domestic Violence Shelter Opens Doors to Pets After Heroic Dog Protects Owner - Time.com reports that in addition to 25 more beds, the Rose Brooks Center in Kansas City, MO, is building a pet-friendly wing, kennels, trails and play area. “Forty percent of the women will not leave their pets, so they live in their cars or they stay [with the abuser],” Susan Miller, the center’s chief executive, told KCTV5 in Kansas City. “They risk their own life or the lives of their children.”

No Child Allowed Outside: Children find refuge from violence throughout Wilmington - DelawareFirst.org has a great post about the Wilmington community's effort to help children traumatized by violence. "When Wilmington police spot a toddler at a crime scene, they call a clinician, just as they’d call a tow truck to the scene of a collision. They wouldn’t have had that option before city police partnered with mental health professionals five years ago, says police chief Michael J. Szczerba. Last year, police referred more than 500 children to Community Development-Community Policing (CDCP), a program that matches social workers and therapists to children who have witnessed crime." This is the last of a three-part series on children and violence that was published this week. The first addresses the amount of violence children in Wilmington experience. The second looks at the toxic effects of chronic violence on children's brains and behavior. The posts include some video interviews; unfortunately they're not on YouTube, so we can't post them here.

Why domestic abuse victims often refuse to leave - In light of Eliana Lopez' steadfast and public defense of her husband San Francisco Sheriff George Mirkarimi -- even as he was charged with three misdemeanor counts of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness -- SFGate.com/San Francisco Chronicle reporter Heather Knight  does a thorough job at examining the age-old question: Why do women stay? [Personal observation: It would also be interesting to see a companion post examining the question that's rarely asked: Why do men intentionally harm?]