Petition · past parliament
Reclassify dogs from chattels to living sentient beings.
Rejected
10 signatures
What the petition asks
The time has come to reform the law and reclassify dogs from chattels to sentient living beings. Dog theft is a huge issue in the UK and the laws surrounding dog ownership are outdated and unacceptable.
Because dogs aren’t pieces of property, they’re members of our family and the time has come to reclassify them in line with our neighbours in France.
Why it was rejected
The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.
The Government is already passing legislation to formally recognise animals as sentient beings. This is called the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. You can find out more about the Bill here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/animals-to-be-formally-recognised-as-sentient-beings-in-domestic-law
And you can follow progress of the Bill here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2867
If you want the Government to make specific changes to the rights of dogs in law, we may be able to accept a petition requesting this, but you'd need to be clear what additional rights you want dogs to have.
And you can follow progress of the Bill here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2867
If you want the Government to make specific changes to the rights of dogs in law, we may be able to accept a petition requesting this, but you'd need to be clear what additional rights you want dogs to have.
Timeline
| 4 Mar 2022 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 10 Mar 2022 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
10
Status
Rejected
Rejected
10 Mar 2022
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.