Domestic violence shelter in New York being custom-built to include pets

A pet Chihuahua playing outside in a dog run at the first pet-friendly domestic violence shelter in New York. — Photos: AP

From easy-to-clean floors to a grooming room to a colour palette toned for dog and cat eyes, a building rising in New York is clearly a place for pets.

But it’s not an animal hospital or a doggy daycare. Rather, it’s what organisers say is America’s first large domestic violence shelter custom-built for victims to keep their pets in their apartments.