ASAP Pets™ Alcohol, Substance Abuse & Pets is a forum for people and their pets who live in an environment where alcohol, substance abuse or addiction exists. In these situations, the pets are often the most over-looked and under-loved of all household members. Also, people living with addiction may feel isolated and their pets are the only true friends they have. In some instances these beloved pet companions have actually saved their owners’ lives.
Can you answer “Yes” to one or more of these questions?
• Do you know how alcohol and substance abuse affects your pet?
• Has your pet been neglected or forgotten?
• Has your pet gone without food or water?
• Has your pet been left outdoors overnight or in inclement weather?
• Does your pet’s body language ever signal fear?
• Does your pet “walk on egg shells” or “cower”?
• Has anyone ever threatened to harm your pet as a means of controlling you?
• Has your pet ever been bullied or deliberately injured?
• Does living with a pet in this environment make you feel guilty?
• Have you ever removed your pet from the home for its safety?
• Is your pet the only friend you have?
• Has your pet ever saved your life?
If you answered “Yes” to one or more of these questions…
This is a safe place where you can find support.
Whether you have or have not been the one drinking or using, this is a resource designed to give all participants support and hope. It offers an opportunity to give a voice to the animals who have been, or currently are, living in such an environment. Story telling is a powerful tool and you may find that others have had experiences similar to yours. Knowing how others have managed their situations can provide you with encouragement to manage your own, and they may also benefit from your experience as well.
Please note… You are among Friends Here:
No Judgment - just acceptance. This is a safe place to share without being second-guessed or invalidated.
No Advice – just continued support, wherever you may find yourself on your journey.
If someone you know may benefit from visiting ASAP Pets™ please invite them.
If your beloved pet companion has a story to tell, please submit their version of it.
You can create a Tribute to a pet from your past… empathizing with your pets and
giving them a voice can help you along your path of healing.
Before you post your story, you must read and agree to the Terms And Conditions found on the menu at the top of this page.
Featured Story
About 20 years ago, before I got sober, I was given a kitten. I was drinking on a daily basis and barely able to get to work and take care of myself. A friend of mine was going through a divorce. She was moving into an apartment that didn’t allow pets. Her children had just gotten a kitten and really didn’t want to part with it. She tried to get other people to take it, but, for one reason or another, no one could. She was getting desperate. She promised that, if I took the kitten, she’d be able to take it back in three to four months. She’d find another apartment that would let her keep pets. I agreed to take the kitten. I wasn’t very good in taking care of Lucy. I was interested in drinking and not much else. She was really affectionate, wanted to be held, petted, fell asleep on top of me. She really was a good cat. I fed her and changed her litter, brushed her, but I really was more interested in drinking. I used to wake up during the night to find her sleeping on top of me. Purring and totally trusting. Meantime, my friend had been unable to find an apartment that accepted pets. By now I had had Lucy for about eight months. I started to realize that not only did Lucy need more attention and better care, but I did, too. I needed to get sober and take care of me appropriately. I went into detox after taking Lucy to a no-kill shelter. After detox, I went into a halfway-house for further treatment and rehabilitation. The house I was in had a stray cat that they had adopted as kind of a mascot. I got permission from the staff and went back to the shelter. They still had Lucy. I got her back and took her to the halfway house. She fit right in with the stray and the guys in treatment at the house. When I finished treatment there, about six months later, I left Lucy there. She was very much spoiled there and lived for about eleven years.
Featured Story
I actually am able to relate to this topic of my pet saving my life from an addiction at one point. This was a couple years back when I would be addicted to drinking alcohol on a daily basis. It was a time of stress and depression in my life when I felt things were not going my way and I had doubts of what I wanted to do in life. I was unhappy with the job I had and wanted to do something I loved. I recently had come out of a 3 year relationship and I believed she was the only girl for me; the only one I would ever want to marry. One night my neighbor and I were drinking in my backyard and my mini pinscher was running around trying to get our attention to play with him. My neighbor and I had been doing these backyard drinking events for about two weeks straight just because it made us feel better about life. One particular night my dog, Pappy, was really getting to me while we were drinking. He kept bugging and jumping all over me, but at this point I was really intoxicated. So my neighbor and I thought it would be funny if we threw rocks at it and made bets on who could hit it first. I realized the fear in my dog and then I actually realized what I was doing to my four legged friend who I have had for several years now. This was not right and I realized what this drinking had done to me. Since that point on I am aware of my actions when I drink and I make sure I do not act the way I did with the pet that has brought me joy for many years and he did nothing to provoke the violent acts we acted on him.
Featured Story
I live with my husband of three years who has always had a problem with alcohol abuse. When he drinks heavily he gets aggressive, loud and extremely argumentative with everyone around him. We have 3 dogs and one, named Buster is his. He loves the dog more than anything and when he drinks and goes into these violent spells, one thing that always seems to calm him after he has isolated everyone else from him is Buster. He will sit and pet him and praise him. I see the fear and uneasiness in the poor things eyes after just hearing him yell and toss around household objects. I think he sees the fear in his eyes too. I think when he sees Buster he realizes just how out of control he is acting and then he settles down. It must be torment for the dog, not knowing if he is to blame for the way my husband acts. All he longs for in those moments is to be petted, to know everything’s alright. Buster is a happier dog nowadays. My husband has undergone treatment; what the tipping point exactly was for him to want help isn’t known to me. But, I am sure part of the reason is Buster. Animals have a way of healing a person, and I know he helps heal my husband every day.
