British Columbia recently made amendments to their legislation to better capture the depth of the relationship that exists between people and their pets. This shift will take into consideration the animal’s best interest, history of care provided and other factors the court determines relevant during ownership disputes. If you are interested in reading more you can do so here: BC makes amendments to better protect companion animals.

Pets have historically been treated by law as mere property. This poses many issues such as:
1. Companion animals have the same legal recognition as a chair or a table
2. This practice is archaic and makes it difficult to enforce animal welfare standards and to hold people accountable for abuse of pets
3. Animals are inherently different from lifeless objects and should be treated differently
4. There’s a growing trend of millennials choosing to have pets over children. Our laws must adapt to these changing societal dynamics.