The founder of the Ruby’s Law campaign is targeting the Family Law Act
UK family law barrister Christina Warner is calling for reforms to the Family Law Act 1996 and the Domestic Abuse Act that will protect pets, reported the Law Society Gazette.
Warner is set to speak before an all-party parliamentary dog advisory welfare group next Tuesday October 21. Through the Ruby’s Law campaign she established this year, Warner seeks the inclusion of pets in non-molestation orders.
She is also championing the amendment of occupation orders to ensure that domestic abuse survivors keep their pets and the classification of pet abuse as coercive control. Her call comes as National Domestic Abuse Awareness Month is being commemorated.
“There is nothing in the Family Law Act that would ensure the safety of the pet either as a freestanding victim of abuse or through human victim proxy. Under the current framework, victims could ask but the judge has no obligation to include the animal… there is no explicit provision to protect pets,” Warner said in a statement published by the Gazette.
She told the publication that victims applying for non-molestation or occupation orders remained in abusive relationships for their pets. Refuge4Pets and Dogs Trust research also revealed that pet abuse was reported in 90 percent of domestic abuse households, while pets were used as coercion tools in 94 percent of cases.
The all-party parliamentary dog advisory welfare group said in a statement published by the Gazette that domestic abusers “identify that special bond people build with their pets and use this to exert control over children, partners or elderly relatives.” It pointed out that laws and safeguarding strategies “often miss the importance that pets have within relationships and families.”
Warner is presently a barrister with 33 Bedford Row in London. Ruby’s Law was named for Warner’s cat, who died in 2023.
The campaign is being endorsed by Refuge4Pets, RSPCA, Blue Cross and the Domestic Abuse Alliance. According to Warner, awareness of Ruby’s Law has extended to Canada, Spain, Ireland, South Africa, and the US.
