Animal-inclusive protection order statutes in case law: social problems and the erosion of the property status of animals

Abstract In recent years, advocates, academics, and legal practitioners have accelerated their critiques of the anthropocentric nature of law and challenges to the property status of animals. The most well-known efforts have involved legal actions arguing that some animal species deserve to be treated as more-than-property due to their cognitive similarities to humans. This paper identifies a different approach grounded in an area of law that—while perhaps anthropocentric in origin—may be strategically leveraged to undercut the property status of animals. It focuses on state-level protection order statutes amended to enable inclusion of companion animals (even those not legally owned by the applicant in some cases) to address a pressing social problem: some domestic violence victims/survivors delay leaving abusers because they are unable to take companion animals with them. This paper examines how these statutes are beginning to be cited in legal cases as evidence that animals warrant greater consideration than that afforded by their legal status as property. The findings provide evidence that these statutes are significant, because in endeavouring to protect companion animals and those who love them from violence, they are undercutting the property status of companion animals, which has significant broader implications for animals.