Alexandra House’s ‘passion project’ becomes reality

Amundson adopted Linus in 2016 as a puppy at the time her son was around 3 1/2 years old. “He did everything with us. We took him everywhere,” she recalled. 

Amundson wasn’t the only one who spent eight years of her life living in constant fear. The incident that ended it all was when her then-partner not only tried to strangle her, but also their child. (See “Domestic Violence Awareness Month: First step is talking about it,” Oct. 12, 2022.) 

“(Linus) was there with us when it happened and didn’t stand by my side and protect me; he ran away and he was hiding under a table,” Amundson recalled. Linus, who had experienced abuse himself before, was afraid. After that incident, if there was ever a loud noise, Linus would run and hide in the bathroom or under a table. “I saw firsthand how domestic violence can affect an animal,” she said. “Being in an environment where it’s unknown and people are yelling or people are hurting people, it’s really scary for them.” 

Amundson never sought shelter because she didn’t want to leave Linus behind. 

“There was a lot of retaliation, and I think power and control around the dog,” she explained. “I believe that if we would have left and left the dog behind, something could have happened to him … I knew that it wasn’t going to be an option to leave him.” 

One day, Amundson went to Alexandra House’s campus in Blaine and had a vision of making the shelter pet-friendly. She did some research and stumbled across Greater Good Charities and RedRover's Don't Forget the Pets workshop. She took a six-hour course on how to make the domestic violence shelter pet-friendly and then pitched the idea to Alexandra House. 

Tina Bronson, director of mission advancement at Alexandra House, said it has long been a dream of the organization to do something like that, but it has been difficult to secure the necessary funding. 

“We have been talking about this for years. We were trying to do a capital campaign to do this back in 2017 when we lost our United Way funding,” she recalled. Ultimately, Alexandra House will need approximately $15 million to renovate and expand its Blaine campus to create a shelter with individual residential units. 

Alexandra House continues to look for funding and grant options, but it has successfully secured nearly $100,000 and will break ground on Linus’ Pet Haven on Sept. 9. 

Linus’ Pet Haven will be a full-service pet refuge that can house six pets (cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, etc.) while the family seeks housing for themselves or other temporary care for pets. In partnership with the Animal Humane Society, Linus’ Pet Haven will provide co-sheltering, routine veterinary care, enrichment areas for families and pets to interact, and outdoor runs for exercise and relief. Alexandra House is seeking additional rescue and low-cost veterinary partners to support the initiative. 

Bronson says Alexandra House typically gets about three to five requests each month from survivors who are looking to leave their abusers but have a pet they would like to bring with them. “We have had to tell them that we are not set up for that … and we never hear from them again, and that is devastating,” she said. “We had one survivor who left to go grocery shopping and was planning to leave but hadn’t said anything, and while she was gone the abuser killed their dog.” 

Linus’ Pet Haven will be the first of its kind in the Twin Cities. There are many options when it comes to housing pets, but most of those require people to be separated from their pets. “They are part of the family,” Bronson explained. “We know that having animals with us is healing and therapeutic … they can heal better together than alone.” 

Linus’ Pet Shelter is anticipated to open in January 2025. For more information, visit www.alexandrahouse.org. 

Managing Editor Shannon Granholm can be reached at 651-407-1227 or quadnews@presspubs.com.