Petition Summary:

In Illinois, pets are still legally classified as personal property, no different than a couch or a television. This outdated legal definition ignores the emotional, social, and sentient nature of the animals we consider family.

We are calling on the Illinois State Legislature to pass a law that reclassifies companion animals as sentient beings or creates a new category such as “companion animals” with legal recognition of their well-being, emotional value, and need for protection.

Full Petition Text:

We, the undersigned, urge Illinois lawmakers to modernize the state’s laws to better reflect the reality of what pets mean to us: they are family, not property.

This issue became heartbreakingly real for me when my 6-year-old German Shepherd, Jenna, suffered an electric shock while walking on a Chicago sidewalk due to unmarked, faulty infrastructure. She screamed in fear and pain. I was horrified. Had she been a child, there would have been immediate accountability, support, and legal protection. But because Jenna is legally just “property,” there was no path for justice, no acknowledgment of what she experienced, and no recourse for me as her guardian.

Jenna is not a thing. She brings comfort, intelligence, and affection into my life daily. She even carries my senior dog’s sweater to bed every night, a nurturing act that shows her emotional depth. Pets like her deserve more than to be treated as objects under the law.

We respectfully request that Illinois lawmakers:

• Reclassify pets as sentient beings or establish a distinct legal category such as “companion animals”;
• Expand legal recognition of pets’ well-being in situations beyond divorce, including personal injury, non-marital custody disputes, and housing issues;
• Ensure accountability and legal remedies when harm is caused to a pet due to negligence or infrastructure failures;
• Recognize the emotional and social bonds between humans and animals in state law.
• Illinois has already led the way in allowing judges to consider a pet’s well-being in divorce cases. It’s time to take the next step and lead the nation in protecting our pets with the dignity and care they deserve.

Let’s make Illinois a state where the law truly reflects how we value our animals, as sentient beings, as companions, as family.