Pass Sky’s Law in Indiana: Protect Companion Animals & Create Veterinary Facility Accountability
To the Indiana General Assembly and the Governor of Indiana:

Indiana law generally treats companion animals as personal property. But our dogs and cats are not ordinary objects. They are living, sentient beings who experience pain, fear, comfort, trust, and companionship, and they hold a unique place in our families.

I am asking Indiana lawmakers to introduce and pass Sky’s Law, named in memory of my beloved dog, Sky.

Sky was my child, my family, and one of the greatest loves of my life. His death led me to begin researching Indiana law and asking where pet families can turn when something goes seriously wrong.

Through that process, I discovered two separate issues that Sky’s Law seeks to address.

1. Stronger legal recognition for companion animals
Indiana currently treats companion animals as personal property.

Sky’s Law asks Indiana to recognize companion animals as living, sentient beings with a special legal status or special category of personal property, rather than treating their loss the same as damage to ordinary inanimate property.

The law should allow appropriate consideration of the animal’s unique value to the family, reasonable veterinary and aftercare expenses, and meaningful remedies when a companion animal is seriously harmed or killed through wrongful conduct.

This proposal should apply specifically to companion animals and be written carefully so that it does not unintentionally interfere with legitimate agriculture or livestock practices.

2. Meaningful accountability for veterinary facilities
As I continued seeking answers, Indiana officials confirmed to me in writing that veterinary facilities are not required to hold a state facility license.

The Director of the Indiana Board of Veterinary Medicine also confirmed:

“The Board of Veterinary Medicine does not have jurisdiction over veterinary facilities as they are not required to be licensed.”

An individual veterinarian can be investigated through a professional license.

But what happens when a serious concern may involve the facility itself—such as staffing, excessive emergency caseload, delayed monitoring, communication, escalation procedures, or other hospital-wide patient-safety systems?

Who independently investigates the facility, and who can require corrective action?

Sky’s Law asks Indiana to establish a reasonable facility-level accountability system that can receive and investigate serious systemic patient-safety complaints and require corrective action when concerns are substantiated.

That solution could involve licensing, registration, inspection authority, complaint jurisdiction, or another reasonable oversight structure.

The goal is not unnecessary bureaucracy, higher veterinary costs, or interference with emergency medicine. The goal is accountability, prevention, and safer care.

Why Sky’s story led me here
Sky’s own veterinary records from an earlier hospitalization documented monitoring that was delayed, unable to be completed, or missed “due to caseload.”

After his final hospitalization and death, the hospital’s Regional Medical Director conducted an internal review and wrote that earlier calcium supplementation would have been a reasonable alternative treatment decision, that communication could have been escalated sooner and more clearly, and that busy emergency caseloads can affect workflow and the timing of tasks and treatments.

I am not claiming those statements prove that caseload or any particular action caused Sky’s death. His individual case is being independently investigated.

The hospital also determined after its internal review that a full refund for Sky’s final hospitalization was appropriate. I did not request that refund, and I made clear that financial compensation was not what I was seeking.

No refund could compensate me for Sky’s life.

What I want is accountability, answers, prevention, and stronger protection for the next animal and the next family.

Sky cannot benefit from any law we change now.

But another dog can.

Our companion animals are living members of our families.

Their lives matter.
Their suffering matters.
The bond we share with them matters.

Please sign and share Sky’s Law and ask Indiana lawmakers to examine these gaps and create reasonable, meaningful protections for companion animals and their families.

For Sky. Always. 🐾❤️