UPDATE: JULY 24, 2026

Something extraordinary happened.

Together, we changed Illinois law.

ROSIE’S LAW PASSED. BUT ROSIE IS STILL NOT HOME.

HB4540, the Companion Animal Custody Equity Act, was signed into law.

Through the Rosie’s Law Initiative, I have called this legislation Rosie’s Law because Rosie’s experience is where this effort began.

This is a historic victory for companion animals and the people who love them. Once the law takes effect, Illinois courts will have a legal framework for considering an animal’s well-being, caregiving history, emotional bonds, stability, age, and vulnerability in possession disputes, including disputes involving people who were never married.

I am deeply grateful to Representative Barbara Hernandez, Senator Linda Holmes, every legislator who supported this reform, Rosie's Law policy outreach coordinator, Hassan Mustafa, and every person who signed, shared, donated, encouraged me, or helped Rosie’s story reach the people who could change the law. 

What we accomplished matters.

Rosie still matters too.

Rosie recently turned 14 years old.

I met her when she was 6.

I became her daily caregiver and her person for more than half her life.

Rosie followed me from room to room. She scratched at the bathroom door when I closed it. She slept beneath my desk and snored while I worked. She tipped over my laundry hamper so she could curl up inside a pile of my clothes. If I sat down for five minutes, she found a way to be touching me.

She had separation anxiety when I first met her, so I stayed close. Over the years, we built our lives around one another.

I fed her, walked her, scheduled and attended her veterinary appointments, managed her insurance, purchased her food and supplies, monitored her health, and cared for her through her senior years. She was also a profound source of emotional support in my life.

After the end of a long engagement, Rosie remained with me in the home we shared. In March 2025, she was removed from that home. I was told she would be brought back.

That never happened.

I have not held or seen Rosie in person since.

When I went to court, I believed the evidence of our life together would be considered.

I brought veterinary records, licensing records, insurance documentation, photographs, videos, receipts, medical documentation, years of caregiving history, and witnesses (e.g., dog sitter & dog groomer) who had observed Rosie’s bond with me and my daily care of her.

The legal framework applied to our case treated Rosie as personal property. The evidence concerning her attachment, her well-being, her daily care, and the stability of the environment she knew did NOT have the legal place it deserved.

Illinois law already allowed courts to consider the well-being of companion animals in divorce proceedings. Rosie and I fell outside that protection because the relationship involved was not a marriage.

That gap had a living consequence.

Her name was Rosie.

I began researching companion-animal law, attachment, animal behavior, grief, caregiving, and the legal treatment of animals in family disputes. I founded the Rosie’s Law Initiative, developed a legislative framework, provided testimony, brought on our public policy outreach coordinator that organized public support, and carried Rosie’s story into the Illinois General Assembly.

That work became HB4540.

HB4540, a bill passed by the Illinois House and Senate, has been officially signed into law by the governor. 

Future companion animals and their caregivers will have a legal framework that Rosie and I did not have.

My own case remains on appeal.

Rosie remains separated from me during the most vulnerable years of her life.

I have also received veterinary records from earlier this year describing serious concerns about her health, including a mast cell tumor that had grown, was leaking, and was associated with limping. I do not know her full condition today. I continue asking for complete current veterinary information and reliable, time-stamped confirmation of her health.

Every day matters when a dog is 14 years old.

As HB4540 becomes a legislative success story, I want people to understand who Rosie is. She is a living, breathing senior dog whose separation exposed the legal gap this legislation was created to address.

She is the dog behind Rosie’s Law.

Her story deserves to remain part of the public record.

This petition began as a call to change Illinois law. Today, it continues as a call for Rosie’s safe reunification with the person who cared for her daily for more than half her life.

While the legal process continues, I am also asking for meaningful contact with Rosie, complete and current information about her medical condition, and a humane path forward that recognizes her age, her health, and her long-standing bond with me.

Please sign and share this petition.

Help people meet the real dog whose experience inspired the Companion Animal Custody Equity Act.

Help keep Rosie’s truth visible.

Help us continue calling for her safe return.

Information about the legislative initiative is available at RosiesLaw.us.

From the beginning, my hope held two parts: bring Rosie home and make sure no other companion animal or caregiver would ever face the same legal void.

One of those hopes has now changed Illinois law.

I am still holding the other one with everything I have.

Rosie, I want the world to know you as the little puggle who followed me everywhere, slept beneath my desk, curled up in my clothes, and made home feel alive.

I am still here.

I am still looking for you.

I am still fighting for the chance to hold you again.

I love you.

With You Always 🌹

Your person,

Tameer
tameer.space

#JusticeForRosie
JusticeForRosie.org >> IN PROGRESS (complete revamp underway (:

#RosiesLaw
RosiesLaw.us

#RosiesChoice
#CareCounts

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This petition asks for peaceful public support. Please do not harass or contact any private individual involved in the pending legal matter.