We Want to Protect Our Pets, So How?
There has been a push for protection of pets nationwide, including petitions for restraining orders, which is the commonly used phrase for an order of protection. Unfortunately, Missouri has not explicitly included harming a pet as a reason to grant an order of protection for a person or enacted a law that allows for orders of protections for pets. Even then, if a person is intentionally harming your pets, whether it is a neighbor, family member, significant other, roommate, or someone else, the law does allow a person to present evidence of the abuse of an animal if it is meant to cause alarm or harass the owner or caregiver at the time.
As always, contact an attorney for help based on your individual situation or seek the help of a local shelter meant to help victims of domestic violence if you fear for your life or safety. At the very least, a consult with an can help you consider options available to you.
Basics for Obtaining an Order of Protection
Before we get too far into how, let’s go over the basics of an order of protection. The purpose of an order of protection for a child or an adult is to prevent further problems. It starts with filing a petition, which can be done with or without an attorney and sometimes victim advocates will help people file. The person filing a petition is called the Petitioner. The person it is filed against is called the Respondent because they have to respond to the petition. Once the petition is filed, it is reviewed by a court official, usually a judge, to determine if it meets the minimum requirements for an ex parte or temporary order of protection. “Ex parte” simply means it was done excluding one party, and in this type of case it is the party the allegations are against. This is meant to ensure the safety of the filing party.
Once an ex parte order is issued, the local police or sheriff department can execute the ex parte order and a formal hearing on a full order of protection is scheduled. Petitioner must ensure Respondent is properly served with the ex parte order and notice of hearing for the full order of protection. Ex parte orders are not searchable on CaseNet (the public directory of all circuit court cases in Missouri).
How Does the Law Apply to Pets?
Now that we have covered the procedural basics of getting to a hearing for a full order of protection, we can move on to how Missouri can consider the abuse of an animal in issuing a full order of protection.
To get a full order of protection and use evidence of abuse or harming of a pet, Petitioner has to show that Respondent has repeatedly (two or more times) harmed their pet in order to cause fear of danger of physical harm and harming the pet served no legitimate purpose, such as self-defense, training the pet, etc. Petitioner needs to be prepared to show that harming the pet actually caused substantial emotional distress and that it put them in fear of physical harm.
So while Missouri may not have explicit laws addressing protection of pets, the result can be protection of the pets through protection of the owner. Once the full order of protection is obtained, Respondent will have to stay away from Petitioner and his or her property.
Always Report to Animal Control
Additionally, remember that if someone is abusing or harming your pets to report it to animal control or local law enforcement. This could be considered a criminal act, and the prosecutor can request a no contact order in the criminal case as further protection.