Editing Pet (section)

=== National and local laws ===

==== Ownership or guardianship ====

Pets have commonly been considered [[property|private property]], [[ownership|owned]] by [[Personhood|individual persons]]. Many [[Animal protectionism|legal protections]] have existed (historically and today) with the intention of safeguarding pets' and other animals' well-being.<ref name="Garner 2010">Garner, Robert. "A Defense of a Broad Animal Protectionism," in Francione and Garner 2010, pp. 120–121.</ref><ref name="Francione 1996">{{cite book|last=Francione|first=Gary Lawrence|author-link=Gary L. Francione|year=1996|title=Rain without thunder: the ideology of the animal rights movement|publisher=Temple University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZTpej7dGGEC&q=animal+welfare+animal+rights&pg=PP13|isbn=978-1-56639-461-1}}</ref><ref name="Francione 1995">Francione, Gary. ''Animals, Property, and the Law''. Temple University Press, 1995.</ref><ref name="Garner 2005">Garner 2005, p. 15; also see [[Peter Singer|Singer, Peter]]. ''Animal Liberation'', Random House, 1975; [[Tom Regan|Regan, Tom]]. ''The Case for Animal Rights'', University of California Press, 1983; [[Gary Francione|Francione, Gary]]. ''Animals, Property, and the Law''. Temple University Press, 1995; this paperback edition 2007.</ref> Since the year 2000, a small but increasing number of jurisdictions in North America have enacted laws redefining pet's ''owners'' as ''guardians''. Intentions have been characterized as simply [[Political correctness|changing attitudes and perceptions]] but not legal consequences to working toward [[Non-human animals|legal personhood]] for pets themselves. Some [[veterinarian]]s and [[breeder]]s have opposed these moves. The question of pets' legal status can arise with concern to [[Pet adoption|purchase or adoption]], [[Legal custody|custody]], [[divorce]], [[Estate (law)|estate]] and [[inheritance]], [[personal injury|injury]], [[Property damage|damage]], and [[Veterinary physician#Veterinary malpractice|veterinary malpractice]].<ref name="Guardian Campaign Communities List">{{cite web|title=Do You Live in a Guardian Community?|url=http://www.guardiancampaign.org/guardiancity.html|work=The Guardian Campaign|access-date=1 September 2013|archive-date=4 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220620/http://www.guardiancampaign.org/guardiancity.html}}</ref><ref name="Nolen 2005">{{cite journal|last=Nolen|first=R. Scott|title=Now, it's the lawyers' turn.|journal=Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association|date=1 March 2005|url=https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/050301d.aspx|access-date=29 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="Chapman 2005">{{cite journal|last=Chapman|first=Tamara|title=Owner or Guardian?|journal=Trends Magazine|date=March–April 2005|url=https://www.avma.org/Advocacy/StateAndLocal/Documents/owner_or_guardian.pdf|access-date=29 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="Katz 2004">{{cite web|last=Katz|first=Jon|title=Guarding the Guard Dogs?|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/heavy_petting/2004/03/guarding_the_guard_dogs.html|work=Home / Heavy Petting: Pets & People|publisher=Slate|access-date=29 August 2013|date=5 March 2004}}</ref>

==== Limitations on species ====
{{Further|Exotic pet#Legality}}
States, cities, and towns in [[Western world|Western countries]] commonly enact local ordinances to limit the number or kind of pets a person may keep personally or for business purposes. Prohibited pets may be specific to [[Breed-specific legislation|certain breeds]] such as [[pit bull]]s or [[Rottweiler]]s, they may apply to general categories of animals (such as [[livestock]], [[Exotic pet|exotic animals]], [[Wildlife|wild animals]], and [[Canid hybrid|canid]] or [[Felid hybrid|felid]] hybrids), or they may simply be based on the animal's size. Additional or different maintenance rules and regulations may also apply. [[Condominium (living space)|Condominium]] associations and owners of [[Lease|rental properties]] also commonly limit or forbid tenants' keeping of pets.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-09 |title=Pet-friendly rental housing comes with restrictions, hard to find {{!}} American Veterinary Medical Association |url=https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2021-10-01/pet-friendly-rental-housing-comes-restrictions-hard-find |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=www.avma.org |language=en}}</ref>

In [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]], the government publishes [[whitelisting|white lists]] and [[blacklisting|black lists]] (called 'positive' and 'negative lists') with animal species that are designated to be appropriate to be kept as pets (positive) or not (negative). The Dutch [[Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy]] originally established its first positive list (''positieflijst'') per 1 February 2015 for a set of 100 mammals (including cats, dogs and [[Animal husbandry|production animals]]) deemed appropriate as pets on the recommendations of [[Wageningen University]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2015/01/28/kamerbrief-over-invoering-huisdierenlijst-zoogdiersoorten |title=Kamerbrief invoering huisdierenlijst zoogdiersoorten |author=Sharon Dijksma |author-link=Sharon Dijksma |work=Rijksoverheid.nl |publisher=Dutch Government |date=28 January 2015 |access-date=18 May 2020 |language=nl |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806043751/https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2015/01/28/kamerbrief-over-invoering-huisdierenlijst-zoogdiersoorten}}</ref> Parliamentary debates about such a pet list date back to the 1980s, with continuous disagreements about which species should be included and how the law should be enforced.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/een-rendier-mag-dan-weer-wel~b32f520e/ |title=Een rendier mag dan weer wel |work=[[Trouw]] |date=3 December 2013 |access-date=18 May 2020 |language=nl}}</ref> In January 2017, the white list was expanded to 123 species, while the black list that had been set up was expanded (with animals like the [[brown bear]] and two great [[kangaroo]] species) to contain 153 species unfit for petting, such as the [[armadillo]], the [[sloth]], the [[European hare]], and the [[wild boar]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bnnvara.nl/kassa/artikelen/lijst-2017-bekend-welke-dieren-mag-jij-als-huisdier-houden |title=Lijst 2017 bekend: welke dieren mag jij als huisdier houden? |author=Rijksoverheid / ANP |publisher=[[BNNVARA]] |date=31 January 2017 |access-date=19 May 2020 |language=nl}}</ref>

==== Killing and eating pets ====
{{See also|Cat meat|Dog meat}}
In January 2011, the Belgian [[Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain]] stated that people are not allowed to kill miscellaneous or unknown cats walking in their garden, but "nowhere in the law does it say that you can't eat your cat, dog, rabbit, fish or whatever. You just have to kill them in an animal-friendly way."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.gva.be/cnt/aid1005363 |title=Uw kat opeten is wettelijk toegestaan |author=jrosquin |work=[[Gazet van Antwerpen]] |date=5 January 2011 |access-date=4 June 2021 |language=nl}}</ref> Since 1 July 2014, it is illegal in the Netherlands for owners to kill their own cats and dogs kept as pets. Parakeets, guinea pigs, hamsters and other animals may still be killed by their owners, but nonetheless when owners mistreat their companion animals (for example, in the process of killing them), the owners can still be prosecuted under Dutch law.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/artikel/1794106/zelf-doden-huisdieren-vanaf-vandaag-verboden |title=Zelf doden huisdieren vanaf vandaag verboden |work=[[RTL Nieuws]] |date=1 July 2014 |access-date=4 June 2021 |language=nl}}</ref>