‘Tis the season for traditions and happy memories in-the-making with family and friends!  As you exchange gifts with your loved ones, don’t forget about your furry companions.  After all, there’s nothing better than spending time with our WHOLE family, including our furry members.  Let’s give our pets the greatest gift of all – the legal recognition of them as family members, not property.  

As you visit with friends and family, please share our petition and discuss our story.  Kano was failed by our judicial system, but his case is not unique.  As so many of you have courageously shared, similar injustices occur daily.  When pets are equated to property, they’re left vulnerable to cruelty and neglect, amongst other horrors.  Here’s an all too relevant and common occurrence this time of year: pets as gifts for the holidays.  But did you know that if you and your spouse/partner break up and a custody battle ensues, only “the purchaser” has the legal right to keep that pet?  This is regardless of whether he or she is a suitable caregiver.  

We hope our petition will be the catalyst for much-needed reform of federal and state animal welfare laws.  There is much work that needs to be done, but our petition is a good start.  Let’s protect our companion animals by ensuring their best interests are considered and protected when determining custody.

Let’s spread even more than holiday cheer across the nation…let’s propel our cause and be the voice for our furry companions!  

Happiest of Holidays to you and your loved ones (both furry and non-furry)!  :)