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Animals
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Companion Animal Welfare: A Focus on Ethics and Laws
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Companion Animal Welfare: A Focus on Ethics and Laws

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 1490

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Michela Pugliese

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Interests: veterinary internal medicine; ethics and law; animal welfare
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Annamaria Passantino

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Interests: veterinary internal medicine; ethics and law; animal welfare
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Companion animals play an essential role in human society, raising complex questions about welfare standards, ethical obligations, and legal responsibilities. As global awareness of animal rights continues to grow, there is an urgent need to examine how ethical frameworks and legal systems address the well-being of companion animals across diverse cultural and regulatory contexts.

This Special Issue aims to explore the intersection between ethics and law in companion animal welfare, highlighting current challenges, innovative approaches, and future directions for research and policy development. We welcome both theoretical and empirical contributions that critically analyze legal frameworks, ethical debates, and their practical implications for improving companion animal welfare worldwide. We invite contributions addressing current challenges, comparative legal perspectives, policy development, enforcement mechanisms, and the ethical dilemmas that arise in veterinary practice and animal management. By fostering interdisciplinary dialog between law, ethics, veterinary science, and animal welfare studies, this Special Issue seeks to advance knowledge and inform both scientific and societal approaches to ensuring the well-being of companion animals.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: legal frameworks and enforcement; ethical considerations in ownership, breeding, and euthanasia; regulation of trade, adoption, and breeding practices, liability and legal responsibility for neglect and abuse; technology and innovation for animal welfare; and companion animals in therapy, service roles, and public spaces.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Michela Pugliese
Prof. Dr. Annamaria Passantino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • companion animal welfare
  • animal ethics
  • animal law
  • euthanasia
  • animal rights
  • legal frameworks
  • responsible ownership
  • breeding and trade regulation
  • animal protection policies

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

49 pages, 715 KB  
Article
Exploring Public Knowledge of Dog Law in the UK: Evidence of Poor Legal Knowledge in a Nationally Representative Sample
by Sarah A. Weir, Sharon E. Kessler and Clare P. Andrews
Animals 2026, 16(10), 1463; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16101463 - 10 May 2026
Viewed by 63
Abstract
Dogs’ societal roles have shifted globally. In private spheres, dogs are increasingly regarded as family and granted legal protections, but in public, they are framed as dangerous and subjected to increased legal restrictions. Changing perceptions of dogs and differences in the law’s beneficiaries [...] Read more.
Dogs’ societal roles have shifted globally. In private spheres, dogs are increasingly regarded as family and granted legal protections, but in public, they are framed as dangerous and subjected to increased legal restrictions. Changing perceptions of dogs and differences in the law’s beneficiaries may influence how people develop legal knowledge. Where enforcement is limited or challenging, legal knowledge becomes an important component of the law’s capacity to shape behaviour. Using the United Kingdom (UK) as a case study, we examined people’s knowledge of 22 laws, divided between UK-wide current laws, nation-specific laws, and plausible hypothetical laws representing high-priority issues. We conducted a nationally representative survey with 1758 participants, split equally across the four UK nations. We first conducted exploratory model-building to identify variables associated with knowledge and then analysed these variables using multinomial models. Accurate legal knowledge among the UK public was limited, with participants frequently overestimating the existence of laws that prioritise dogs and their owners. Dog owners responded with greater certainty but not greater accuracy than non-dog owners. Older participants were more accurate overall, while responses to hypothetical laws suggested generational differences in views on animal welfare. These findings suggest gaps between the law in reality and what people assume the law to be. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Companion Animal Welfare: A Focus on Ethics and Laws)
17 pages, 1017 KB  
Article
A Holistic Decision-Making Tool for Canine Chronic Kidney Disease: Navigating Palliative Care and Euthanasia
by Diego Antonio Sicuso, Vito Biondi, Pietro Gambadauro, Michela Pugliese, Angelo Peli and Annamaria Passantino
Animals 2026, 16(4), 669; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16040669 - 20 Feb 2026
Viewed by 874
Abstract
Background: Managing end-of-life decisions in canine chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains one of the most significant challenges in veterinary nephrology, requiring a delicate balance between clinical data and ethical considerations. Objective: This study introduces a novel decision-making algorithm designed to guide clinicians and [...] Read more.
Background: Managing end-of-life decisions in canine chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains one of the most significant challenges in veterinary nephrology, requiring a delicate balance between clinical data and ethical considerations. Objective: This study introduces a novel decision-making algorithm designed to guide clinicians and owners through the complexities of end-of-life care, focusing on the assessment of Quality of Life (QoL) and disease progression. Methods: The tool integrates IRIS staging with a multi-parameter QoL checklist, categorizing patients into three distinct clinical pathways: Tier A (Active Palliative Care), Tier B (Intensive Monitoring/Ambiguous Zone), and Tier C (Compassionate Euthanasia). Results and Discussion: The algorithm defines Tier A as a proactive palliative pathway grounded in systematic clinical evaluation and continuous QoL assessment, aimed at preserving patient comfort and dignity. Across all tiers, QoL functions as a dynamic and central parameter, guiding transitions between clinical pathways in conjunction with objective indicators of disease progression. Tier C delineates the threshold of therapeutic futility, where declining QoL and biological resilience converge, and euthanasia is framed as an ethically appropriate option to prevent refractory suffering. Conclusions: By providing methodological transparency and clear clinical thresholds, this tool facilitates communication between veterinarians and owners. It ensures that palliation is approached with high-standard medical rigor while safeguarding the animal’s dignity when biological resilience is exhausted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Companion Animal Welfare: A Focus on Ethics and Laws)
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