Domestic abuse does not always stop at the human members of a household. For many survivors, a beloved pet is an integral part of the family — and for perpetrators, that bond can become a weapon.
Pets can be threatened, harmed, withheld, neglected or used as leverage to control a partner. Yet, despite growing recognition of the relationship between animal abuse and domestic abuse, the law in England and Wales does not yet provide a clear and comprehensive framework for protecting pets through the family courts.
Ruby’s Law is a campaign seeking to change that.
Founded by family barrister Christina Warner, Ruby’s Law seeks to ensure that pets are properly recognised within the legal response to domestic abuse. Warner is also a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and has brought together her experience as a family lawyer with a wider interest in animal protection and the links between violence against humans and animals.
What is Ruby’s Law?
Ruby’s Law began in response to a straightforward but important gap in the law: pets can be central to the dynamics of domestic abuse, but the family courts have limited ability to protect them.
The campaign proposes amendments to the Family Law Act 1996 and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 so that pets are expressly recognised within domestic abuse protections. The proposals include allowing pets to be protected through non-molestation orders, enabling courts to make appropriate arrangements concerning pets through occupation orders, and explicitly recognising pet abuse as part of controlling or coercive behaviour.
The campaign’s starting point is that pets should not be treated simply as items of property when a family is experiencing domestic abuse. They can themselves be victims of violence, while simultaneously being used as a means of controlling a human victim.
The proposals would also provide greater scope for evidence such as veterinary records, witness evidence, messages and other digital material concerning threats or harm to pets to be considered when assessing abuse and breaches of protective orders.
These are not merely animal-welfare measures. They are measures about family safety, domestic abuse and access to justice.
Why is Ruby’s Law needed?
The evidence demonstrates why the issue cannot be ignored.
Research cited by the Ruby’s Law campaign, including work by Refuge4Pets and Dogs Trust, found that nearly 90% of domestic abuse households with pets reported that their pets had been abused, while 94% of cases involved pets being used as part of coercive control. This can take many forms: threats to harm an animal, restricting access to veterinary treatment, withholding food or medication, taking a pet away, or threatening to kill an animal.
The problem is therefore not simply that an animal may be physically harmed. The pet can become a mechanism through which the perpetrator exercises power over the survivor.
For someone considering leaving an abusive relationship, the question may not simply be “Where will I go?” It can also be “What will happen to my dog?”, “Who will look after my cat?” or “Will my partner hurt my pet if I leave?”
Ruby’s Law seeks to remove the impossible choice between personal safety and the safety of a beloved animal.
The campaign’s research materials note that fear for a pet’s safety can delay a survivor’s escape, while the emotional bond between people and their companion animals can be profound.
This is particularly important because pets are a part of a significant proportion of households. The campaign’s materials cite figures indicating that around 60% of households have at least one companion animal.
The existing legal framework does not adequately reflect this reality.
The Family Law Act 1996 provides important protection for people experiencing domestic abuse, but it does not expressly provide a mechanism for protecting pets through non-molestation orders or occupation orders. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises controlling or coercive behaviour, but the law does not expressly identify pet abuse as a form of such behaviour.
Animal welfare legislation can criminalise cruelty to animals, but that does not necessarily solve the family-law problem. A pet may be used to control a survivor without the conduct necessarily amounting to a straightforward animal-cruelty prosecution.
As the campaign’s research puts it, there is a gap between criminal law, family law and animal protection law. Survivors can therefore find themselves in the position of having to leave an abusive household while their pet remains vulnerable.
A significant parliamentary milestone
Ruby’s Law has already moved from campaign to Parliament having been the subject of an Early Day Motion in November 2025 to overwhelming cross-party support.
On 10 March 2026, Ruth Jones MP introduced the Domestic Abuse (Pets) Bill in the House of Commons. The Bill formally brought the campaign’s proposals into the parliamentary process.
In her speech introducing the Bill, Jones highlighted the link between domestic abuse and violence against pets and paid tribute to Christina Warner’s leadership of the campaign. The Bill proposes changes including extending non-molestation and occupation orders to pets, recognising pet abuse within controlling or coercive behaviour, and extending Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to pets.
Reports on the Bill’s parliamentary progress, describing the campaign as having moved one step closer to legal reform noted that Warner had drafted the Bill has received support from MPs across a number of political parties.
Crucially, the campaign has not stopped.
The Bill’s proposed scope includes protection for pets and other companion animals within domestic abuse proceedings, including through non-molestation and occupation orders, amendments concerning controlling or coercive behaviour and economic abuse, and extending Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to pets and companion animals. It is currently listed as awaiting Second Reading.
Mirror campaigns have launched in Northern Ireland and Ireland with lawyers and campaigners calling for the proposals to be implemented.
This means that Ruby’s Law has entered a new and important phase: turning parliamentary recognition into sustained political momentum and, ultimately, legislation.
What would change?
At its heart, Ruby’s Law seeks three fundamental changes.
First, pets should be capable of being protected through family-court orders. The campaign proposes amendments to the Family Law Act 1996 so that pets can be included within non-molestation orders and arrangements can be made to allow survivors to retain their pets.
Second, pet abuse should be expressly recognised as part of domestic abuse and coercive control. This would provide greater clarity for police, prosecutors and courts when dealing with situations in which an animal is being used to intimidate, threaten or control a survivor.
Third, the legal system should recognise that protecting pets can be an important part of protecting people. The intended outcomes include enabling survivors to seek help sooner, preventing perpetrators from using animals as tools of control, and improving protection for pets when families flee abusive situations.
The campaign also envisages better training for police, prosecutors and the judiciary, stronger use of veterinary and other evidence, and greater recognition of animal abuse when assessing risk and sentencing.
The next step: MPs need to hear from their constituents
The campaign is now calling on supporters, lawyers, animal-welfare organisations, domestic-abuse professionals and members of the public to help build parliamentary support.
An MP drop-in event will take place on 8 September, providing an opportunity for MPs to hear directly about the campaign, the evidence behind it and why reform is needed.
Supporters are encouraged to contact their own MP and ask them to support Ruby’s Law and attend the drop-in. A draft letter to MPs is available through the Ruby’s Law website and can be used as a starting point for contacting representatives: Ruby’s Law – campaign website
The campaign is particularly keen to hear from people who have personal or professional experience of the way pets can become caught up in domestic abuse. Every conversation with an MP helps demonstrate that this is not a niche animal-welfare issue, but a genuine gap in the protection available to domestic abuse survivors and their animals.
A chance to change the law
Ruby’s Law began with a simple proposition: no survivor should have to choose between their own safety and the safety of their pet.
The campaign has already demonstrated that there is political appetite for change. Its proposals have reached Parliament, secured cross-party support and developed into a new parliamentary Bill. The next challenge is ensuring that momentum is maintained.
For Christina Warner, the campaign is ultimately about recognising the reality of domestic abuse as it is experienced within families. Where an animal is used to threaten, control or harm a survivor, the law should be capable of responding to the whole picture.
The message now is simple: contact an MP, ask them to support Ruby’s Law, and encourage them to attend the 8 September MP drop-in.
Pets should not be invisible within the family justice system. Nor should survivors be forced to leave a beloved member of their family behind in order to reach safety.
Ruby’s Law is asking Parliament to make sure they never have to.
Christina Warner