As the link between domestic violence and animal cruelty becomes increasingly evident, states are beginning to act. Early this year, the governor of Maine signed a bill, believed to be the first of its kind, that specifically allows animals to be included in court protective orders. Vermont and New York followed with similar legislation. Measures are being considered in New Jersey and Illinois.
Such laws build on the status of animals as property, but they also speak to the special place pets have in American homes as living, breathing members of the family. "We're dealing with the kind of property that can suffer and die," says Randall Lockwood of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Debbie Carter, public policy director for the Texas Council on Family Violence, doesn't see similar animal protective-order legislation on the horizon in Texas. In Bexar County, Bettina Richardson, an assistant district attorney and executive director of the Family Justice Center, says that, while provisions for pets are not codified in Texas law, attorneys can make the case for it, and judges have the ability to include pets in domestic violence protective orders.
Such laws build on the status of animals as property, but they also speak to the special place pets have in American homes as living, breathing members of the family. "We're dealing with the kind of property that can suffer and die," says Randall Lockwood of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Debbie Carter, public policy director for the Texas Council on Family Violence, doesn't see similar animal protective-order legislation on the horizon in Texas. In Bexar County, Bettina Richardson, an assistant district attorney and executive director of the Family Justice Center, says that, while provisions for pets are not codified in Texas law, attorneys can make the case for it, and judges have the ability to include pets in domestic violence protective orders.
Comments