The National Coalition of Domestic Violence recently reported that a woman is either beaten or subject to some form of assault every nine seconds. Often times these virtually defenseless women own pets that can also be exposed to the same type of abuse.
Such is the case with Amanda Trop, a young woman who became victimized by a controlling boyfriend and an extremely abusive relationship laced with fits of rage and violence. Amanda unknowingly entered the relationship as a teenager before the violence started, but then the beatings began, leaving her battered, bloody and bruised.
Amanda literally feared for her life, but she was too afraid to leave, which is often the case with a majority of battered women who can’t seem to find a way out. Ms. Trop recently said this about her abuser, “He’d come home from work stressed or upset and I ended up being his punching bag,”
Approximately three years ago, Amanda got involved with taking care of a litter of abandoned husky puppies. Almost immediately, she became attached to one of them and decided to adopt the little pup; she named him “Kyro.” Things started to change a little for Amanda: “He became pretty much my only source of happiness,” she said.
But then one day Amanda’s boyfriend decided to unleash his anger again, yet this time he chose to beat on Kyro, nearly blinding him. This incident became a necessary wake-up call for Amanda, which was when she decided to take off with her faithful friend and make it on her own: “It’s like, it’s okay to hit me but it’s especially not okay to hit Kyro, that’s kind of when everything changed and turned around.”
Amanda and her trusty canine began trekking thru the Pacific Northwest, where she started taking photos of the scenery and of course, Kyro. Little did she know it at the time; Amanda had an innate talent for taking pictures and shortly thereafter, photography became one of her favorite things to do.
Since that time, Amanda has been taking photos of her now beautiful and healthy companion. Kyro now weighs a stout 92 lbs, and he has also become the main focal point of her exceptional work. Amanda also said, “To this day, when I look in his big blue eyes, I know he knows I saved him and he saved me.”
Like most modern-day photographers, Amanda uses social media to keep her loved ones and followers up to speed on her travels. Not only does she share the joy of her passion, she’s also attempting to give some hope to other women who’ve been physically abused by their boyfriends/spouses. In closing, Amanda had this to say:
“It has not been easy to relive the memories of the past abuse, but my goal is to help inspire others that are in (or were in) situations like mine. You will find yourself again. I found my four-legged knight—who knows where yours is waiting?”
