Cats and the law: research report

This research examines the legal status of cats, within the UK’s legal system (primarily in England and Wales) but also in an international context. It considers a range of different areas of law and conflicting perspectives within the UK’s animal welfare, contract, criminal and environmental law and also addresses issues of ownership and liability.
In particular, the research examines how both domestic and wild cats are subject to different protection under the law and the manner in which ambiguities concerning the status of wild and domestic cats impose liability on humans for their actions in dealing with cats. The research was commissioned by the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB) (now International Cat Care (iCatCare)) on behalf of the Cat Group (a consortium of different charities) who identified that a number of legal questions could arise for cat owners for which there does not currently seem to be a definitive answer.
The research considers the legal status of cats in
the context of not just the enforcement of animal welfare law but also within the context of other aspects of the law, which includes policy and ethical considerations relating to animal
ownership and welfare. The research deals primarily with domestic cats in England and Wales and changes brought about by the Animal Welfare Act 2006,which consolidates much earlier legislation and both promotes animal welfare and provides an enforcement mechanism through which punishment may be pursued where there is a breach of animal welfare standards.

Copyright in research report retained by authors.
Funder has granted permission for research report to be open access through institutional repositories