LAWS MUST CHANGE to reflect what we all know: That dogs are flesh and blood creatures who feel emotions and form strong bonds of loyalty, affection, and childlike dependence with their humans. Under laws that are currently on the books, a dog is simple property, no different than a couch or a lawnmower. 

Entities that employ canines, both government and private, have been known to take advantage of this loophole in the system to unjustly coerce the handlers who work for them – for instance, by forcing handlers to accept unsafe or unjust working conditions under threat of getting their dogs taken away from them.

Working dogs and their handlers form tight, inseparable bonds with each other and with the handlers’ families. We believe that it is not morally right for the law to treat dogs as simple property that can be taken away like a work cell phone.

As a remedy to this, WE PROPOSE THAT:

If a working dog has been living in the household of its handler for at least two years, legal ownership of the dog must pass to the handler.

Please sign this petition to get through to our lawmakers!

Please strengthen our cause by supporting the K9 Mattie shop with your patronage: k9mattie.net

And please contact us at k9mattie@yahoo.com to suggest to us the names of any legislators and other important people who should be named on our petitionee list!

K9 MATTIE’S STORY:

K9 Mattie and her daddy Séamus Fennessy helped keep New York City safe from bombs for five years while working for a private security company.

When Séamus was called to military duty in January 2019, Mattie was taken away by the company to continue working.

They were separated for a long, sorrowful three years and three months.

When Mattie finally retired in April 2022, she was returned to her family to her family to live out the rest of her life surrounded by love, peace, and joy!