Her former partner would punch the dog, training it to be "compliant", and told her the children needed to be "trained like the dog as well".

Grace's partner also shot the stray cat she befriended and tamed.

Fleeing the state with her children to the other side of the county, Grace had to leave her pets behind.

"Our pets gave us unconditional love, something the abuser never does, and I used to think that repaying that love by leaving ... those pets behind and opening them to further abuse, it hurt terribly and it added to the mental trauma his abuse had already inflicted," she said.

When Grace did leave, her former partner released her pets into the bushland, while others were left to starve in their cages.

"After we left, he'd leave [the dog] tied up for days," Grace said.

"He just treated the animals as another form of control over us and he knew how much it upset me when he abused them as well, so the more he saw me being affected the worse he became."

Grace said support for victim-survivors with pets was "invaluable". She would have left sooner if she knew her pets were safe.

Grace's experience is common for victim-survivors, with 70 per cent of women fleeing family violence reporting pet abuse.

Engender Equality chief executive Alina Thomas said animals were often used as a tool for abuse and control.

"Harm to the pets might be used as a threat, like 'if you leave me I'm going to hurt the pet, kill the pet', or it might also be that the animal is getting abused as a as a form of violence against the victim-survivor, so they're having to witness their animal getting hurt," she said.

Ms Thomas said the issue was more complicated for victim-survivors living on farms with livestock, where there was nothing on offer.

She said it was important to understand the grief and trauma associated with pet violence and integrate it into services.

"We love our pets as family members, and to have them killed or harmed in front of you ... I think because you're responsible for them, there's a whole other layer of grief and trauma that can come along with that," she said.

The RSPCA has offered victim-survivors some reprieve.

Each state offers some form of support, with services including emergency pet boarding, temporary foster accommodation, and financial assistance for veterinary treatment, impound fees, and transportation costs.

The Tasmanian program, Safe Beds, hosted 72 animals for 62 people between August 2021 and July 2022, with an average stay of 68 nights.

The New South Wales community domestic violence program hosted 866 animals for 566 people in the 2020/21 financial year.

Ms Thomas said programs like Safe Beds were extremely important, with victim-survivors knowing their animals were cared for while they found stability and safety for themselves.

Safe Beds has been invaluable for victim-survivor Rosie*, who said the program was "a deciding point for leaving".

"I was really at a loss of what to do," she said.

Rosie and her children left her partner, and put her dog and rabbits in RSPCA care, where they have remained for several months, while Rosie has been rebuilding her life.

She said it was difficult to articulate how much she appreciated the program, with the kindness and care, and the regular updates she received about her pets.

But Rosie wanted to see a model where animals could stay with their owners.

"[A pet] provides so much comfort when your whole world is turned upside down, you know, mental health wise ... and just practicality as well. Your animals are part of your family, so you look after your whole family ... they are with you for life, so I think it would change a lot of people's futures," she said.

In the 2021/22 budget submission, RSPCA Tasmania said pets needed to be recognised as family members before the law, and changes needed to be made to short stay and emergency accommodation to allow people to escape with pets.

RSPCA Tasmania deputy chief executive Andrea Dawkins said the housing shortages and landlords refusing pets made the situation more difficult.

One victim-survivor was considering surrendering her animals because she could not find a rental allowing pets.

But Ms Dawkins said all but one pet in the Safe Beds program had been returned to its owner, with victim-survivors going on to public housing.

She said seeing pets reunited to their owners was a cause for celebration for both the RSPCA and owners.

"For a long time we've known children can be abused in domestic and family violence situations, but it's been very clear that there's been a parallel concern around animals," she said.

*Names have been changed.