Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Humana aids fight against animal cruelty, human violence

Reprints
Humana aids fight against animal cruelty, human violence

Louisville, Ky.-based health insurer Humana Inc. is giving $100,000 to the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago to help improve its ability to track and identify animal abuse trends and direct outreach efforts toward the neighborhoods that are most in need of education about responsible pet ownership.

The health benefits of pet ownership are well known, but less reported is the relationship between animal abuse and human violence. According to the Humane Society of the United States, 71% of domestic violence victims report that their abuser also targeted their pet.

Recognizing this connection, the society says it plans to use some of the grant money to implement an after-school anti-violence ambassador program for Chicago teens that will focus on the connection between violence and animal cruelty.

A panel of judges including community leaders, public officials and business representatives worked with Humana to select the Anti-Cruelty Society as the beneficiary of its Chicago Benefits grant, which was awarded on Aug. 27.

Two other Chicago Benefits semi-finalists also received funding: HealthReach Inc., a non-profit health care safety net provider dedicated to improving and maintaining the health of medically underserved individuals and families in Lake County, Ill., received $15,000 as first-runner up. The organization will use the funds to create a comprehensive free eye care center. And the Posse Foundation, a college scholarship program for promising students from disadvantaged urban backgrounds, received $5,000.

Humana's Chicago Benefits program is celebrating its seventh anniversary this year, and has awarded more than $800,000 since its inception in 2009. Humana also has community philanthropic programs in the cities of Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City and Tampa Bay, Fla., as well as in Arizona, Louisiana and Utah.